


No Better Version Of Me

by ToTheMax



Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, No beta we die like reginald, Post-Henry Stickmin Series: Completing the Mission, Revenged Ending | R (Henry Stickmin)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:15:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26004787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToTheMax/pseuds/ToTheMax
Summary: Henry gets picked up after claiming his revenge from the Toppats, and comes to the realization that his second chance at life doesn't come for free.
Comments: 199
Kudos: 376





	1. Getting Started

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay i thought I was the only one writing stickmin fiction and I am SO GLAD IM NOT THE ONLY ONE. LITERALLY WROTE THIS AFTER 7 HOURS OF BRAINSTORMING AT WORK ADHD HELLBRAIN HYPERFOCUSES ON STICK MEN.....
> 
> I definitely have plans to continue this fic so just stay tuned :3!! Chapter 1 is more of an introduction to how stuff gets set up yknow

_Breathe in… breathe out…_

_In… out…_

He was in so much pain.

_In… out…_

Part of him stupidly thought that just because his cybernetics were shot, he wouldn't feel the pain there. But he was oh, _so_ wrong. 

_In…_

His entire torso was on fire, and he was pretty sure the bullet was still lodged in there.

_Out…_

Blinded by the sun, Henry closes his eyes tightly, gritting his teeth. He tries to ignore another bolt of pain coursing over his spine to no avail. 

There is solace in the madness before him. He feels a weight off his heart looking at the Toppat's ship, it's bright bold red streaked with dents and crumples, smoke pealing out of the top. Behind it is a rocket, with some sort of base at the top. It seems as though they went ahead with that space station plan they had been going over before he got locked up at The Wall. He felt a spark of rage that quickly died. _They would have waited for me if they knew I was alive,_ he told himself. Especially ones like Thomas, who genuinely appreciated his leadership.

Henry opens his eyes to glare at the corpse stapled to the shrapnel in front of him. If it wasn't for _him_ … 

He doesnt know how long he sits there, leaned against that rock, until a shadow crosses over him. And a condescending yet soft voice flows into his ears.

"One afternoon and you already break augmentations?" A blonde woman fixes pink-tinted glasses and smiles softly at the man on the ground. "I thought you would at least last a day."

Henry grimaces, intending to smile back at her. One shift of his left arm, and his spine sparks again, making him seethe and cry out.

Dr. Vinschpinsilstien stoops down and picks up Henry like he weights as much as a pillow. "Don't worry. I fix for you. This will be last free surgery you have, mister Stickmin." Her voice gains a teasing tone, trying to make him lighten up.

Henry half-laughs, half-groans against the doctor's shoulder, resisting the urge to bite down on her coat as another course of pain shoots through his body. He raises his head the smallest bit to take one last glance at Reginald's body, slumped over and lifeless.

He didn't care what happened to him next. He didn't even care if he keeled over and died right now. He got what he came for. He got his revenge.

* * *

He was surprised to open his eyes again.

It was a familiar sight; Dr. Vinschpinsilstien's boatshop, with the doctor herself sitting to the side scrawling on a piece of paper hidden by a clipboard.

Henry learned his lesson last time. This time, he slowly sat up and let his spine adjust as naturally as it could. He found he wore a cleaner version of the clothes he was wearing before: simple sweatpants with a tank top, giving him full view of his cybernetic arm.

The doctor looked over her glasses, eyebrows raised. "So you _are_ awake. Is good." She watched curiously as Henry gently swung one leg over the side of the bed. "Left arm was mostly okay," she reported, "upper half of spine had to be totally replaced."

Henry let out a heavy breath, feeling his head pound for a few heartbeats. He looked over and nodded his thanks.

Dr. Vinschpinsilstien set her clipboard aside, clicking her pen shut and stuffing it into an inside pocket of her coat. "What now?" She asked. "Do you have plan?"

Henry tried to stand, but quickly decided to wait a few more moments. He flexed his robotic hand, feeling the clicks and whirrs as it got into movement. Did he have a plan? Not really. Killing Reginald was his only plan, and even as he was on the way he knew it was short-term. Slowly, he shook his head in response.

The doctor hummed. "I can always drop you off at nearest city. Give you a start for your new life?"

Henry shook his head fervently at that, managing to mumble a protest. He didn't know what he wanted, but he surely didn't want to go back to the city. All that was waiting for him was a mountain of late bills to pay and _so many_ rejected offers to sell the Tunesian Diamond. He never knew how many people were willing to turn down a $112 million diamond until he actually tried to cash it in.

The doctor hummed. "Well… then what? You go on your own? Become criminal again?"

Henry tried to stand again. This time, his spine allowed this and let him carefully gain his balance. He let the whirring settle in his ears, as well as a breath in his lungs. He flexed his muscles, feeling the segments of metal running down his back flex in response. He looked down at his hand again, feeling a dull phantom ache.

He turned to the doctor, speaking in a quiet rusty voice.

"Let me pay you back."

Dr. Vinschpinsilstien raised her eyebrows, seeming shocked that he had uttered a word. "How so?" She asked.

Henry rolled his metallic shoulder, letting his hand smoothly transform into a blade. _Nice to see she kept this,_ he thought. "You had trouble with the Toppats?" At her nod, he looked out into the ocean. "I can help you if there's any more trouble. I can… I could be your bodyguard of sorts."

Dr. Vinschpinsilstien stared at the man, contemplating the idea for a moment. She answered with her own question. "With Toppats… did you encounter man with red mustache? Half of body was cybernetic, along with legs."

"Right Hand Man," Henry answered with a nod.

The doctor wrung her hands together. "They forced me to fix him. Am not supposed to help criminals like them, but… what else will you do?"

Henry's hand clicked back to normal as he felt a rush of sympathy. Right Hand Man was his fault, it shouldn't have gotten _her_ in trouble.

"Suppose it would be nice to have backup. If another incident happens." The doctor stepped back a moment, rifling through a bin laid on the ground.

Henry flinched as a blur of brown and green flew at his face, and he barely caught a military-grade jacket with a fuzzy collar.

"Welcome aboard, Henry Stickmin."

Henry met Dr. Vinschpinsilstien's eyes, smirking with confidence.

The jacket fit perfectly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes I had to copy/paste the doctors name every single time


	2. Kicking Into Gear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY HERE WE GO ITS STARTING TO HAPPEM

The water splashed and twinkled with the mid-afternoon sun as a fish leaped right into Henry's hand, and with pleasure he dropped it into a bucket beside him. He reached the collar of his jacket around to wipe his face, which had started to bead with sweat. He flexed his robotic hand, turning it back into a fishing pole. Now wasn't the time for a break when he still had food to catch.

"Everything okay?" Dr. Vinschpinsilstien leaned her head out of the door, looking up at the roof where Henry sat. "Hungry?" Thirsty?"

Henry shook his head, hooking a worm from his bait box and casting his line out again. He lifted a half-empty bottle of water to show that he had been staying hydrated.

The doctor hummed and gave him a wave. "Come in soon. Don't spend all day on top of boat!"

Henry waved her back inside, keeping a hand on his transformed arm. The doctor's company in these last few weeks was something to appreciate. She gave him the space he wanted, but was ever-curious about how he took to his cybernetic enhancements. There were many a time he'd wake up to her tinkering with his arm, or making adjustments to his spine. At first he was thrown off, but now he just lets her run her experiments. It's all she has to do on this boat, anyway.

A sudden tugging on the line pulled him out of his thoughts. Quickly, he went to reel in his catch. He felt a little more at ease as the line started reeling in, knowing he and Dr. Vinschpinsilstien would have something for dinner today.

His small smile quickly grew into a wide grin as a fish leaped out of the water, landing right into his hand as his fingers transformed around it. He quickly gathered his bucket, dropped the fish inside, and hopped off the roof of the boat.

Dr. Vinschpinsilstien smiled at Henry as he entered the boat. "Catching dinner was easy?" At his nod, she straightened from her work slouch and rolled a shoulder. "Very good. Did you spot danger in water?"

Henry shook his head at that. "If I did, you would know," he spoke softly. He settled the bucket of fish beside the door, fixing the sleeve of his jacket.

Dr. Vinschpinsilstien leaned back on her counter, where she was assembling some kind of new prosthetic. "Arm and spine okay?" She asked. "No more pain?"

Henry nodded, then shrugged and waved his hand in a _so-so_ halfway motion. Surprisingly, he hadn't had much trouble with phantom pains, since the doctor knew what she was doing when she made the prosthetics. She found some way to keep blood flowing through the missing limb, so his brain was tricked into the arm still organically being there. That didn't mean they were completely gone, but it wasn't too horrible.

The doctor swiped some tool off her table, motioning with her other hand. "Take off jacket, let me see spine."

"Again?" Henry couldn't help but blurt, although he did as instructed as cast his jacket aside, pulling his tank top off his back to let her see. "It was fine this morning." He followed her wordless instruction to lie down on his bed.

"I give you new improvement." Dr. Vinschpinsilstien tapped on one of the metal vertebrae, and out jutted Henry's pair of wings. The man himself nearly jumped with how fast they expelled from his back, and looking back he was still surprised that wings  _ that  _ big could fit into his little spine.

Henry let the doctor tinker around, trying to ignore the hollow scraping feeling. "So, what exactly is this gonna improve?" He asked, shifting his mouth over his elbow to speak.

"Am installing wing rotors, so you keep altitude without using so much fuel." She held one of the metal wings up with one hand while screwing in what looked to be a small fan blade to fit right in the middle. A circle of scrap metal was tossed aside, but not too carelessly. "Will try to give you some sort of feathers, help with precision flight."

"Precision? Level altitude?" Henry furrowed his eyebrows. "Seems… unnecessary." All he would really use his wings for now would be to scout over the ocean for any fish he could spot. What was all this high-tech stuff for?

Dr. Vinschpinsilstien opened her mouth to speak, but then her phone started buzzing. She took a look at the screen, tapped a button, and pressed it to her ear with a shoulder to keep working with both hands. "Salut."

Henry barely heard the voice on the other side of the line, but whatever the call was about seemed urgent. Then, Dr. Vinschpinsilstien answered in Russian, which meant she didn't want Henry to know what she was saying. He didn't have a problem with it; the woman had her privacy, and he had his. For all he knew, she was catching up with an old friend or confirming some grocery order. Not everything was on a need-to-know basis, despite their close living quarters.

"Am just about to finish. Da, with patient. Will call back. Twenty minutes. Okay. Okay." The phone fell from her ear as she finished screwing in the last bolt on a bladed extension at the end of his right wing. "Henry, try to move this." She tapped the extension and waited patiently. 

Henry looked back at his wing, trying to search for the right muscle to pull. "Uhm…" His wing jerked about, whirring sporadically. "I, uh… hang on."

Soon enough, though, he heard the scraping of metal-on-metal to let him know it moved. He smiled victoriously, and Dr. Vinschpinsilstien looked pleased with the test.

"Wonderful! I install the rest." She leaned down and picked up assorted sizes of the same bladed extensions.

Henry snuggled his head back onto his arms, closing his eyes to catch a bit of a nap as his friend worked. If being a bit of a lab rat is what it took to not get dropped back at the city, or The Wall, or anywhere else, he could allow it.

* * *

Across the sea, flames littered a once-busy road.

All five cars that had been driving were now totaled and flipped over each other, casting out shoots of fire into the twinkling night sky. Several bodies lay among the wreckage, some still gasping for air with bloody lungs.

A single pair of boots thumped against the asphalt, and a shrill ringing noise cut through the dull rumble of the flames as a figure dragged the tip of a machete along their stride.

"All these goons," the figure hissed, "all these 'Hats in one place, and not  _ one  _ of you can answer one simple question."

They knelt down, grabbing a half-dead Toppat by the hair, lifting him up and forcing him to peer into the dead sockets of their mask.

"Where's the boss?"

The Toppat opened his broken mouth. "I-I swear, I don't—"

A quick jerk of the machete silenced him for good. 

The figure stood back up, slowly pacing towards another Toppat that was trying to crawl away. "Everyone's been saying the same thing. 'Oh, the airship was destroyed! Everyone was killed! If anyone is left alive, I don't know anything!' It's all such  _ bullshit _ !" They reached up to fasten the clasp on a cloak over the right of their body. Then, they sheathed their machete.

"So let me ask again. This is the last time I'm being nice." They lurched forward, grabbing the fleeing Toppat by the ankle and dragging him back while he thrashed. A tight grip on his neck forced them to lock eyes. "Where. Is. Your. Boss."

The Toppat feebly grabbed at their arm, seething in pain. "It… Reginald was—" he tried to scream when the killer's grip tightened, but all that came out was a high squeak. 

"I'm not talking about Reginald!" They swung his body around like a dead cat as they stood to their full height. "I don't give a damn about him! And I'm not talking about that cyborg sidekick of his, either! I  _ know  _ they're dead!"

The killer threw the Toppat onto the ground, making him bounce and crash into the underside of one of the cars. Then, they quickly stalked toward their prey and landed a heavy cleated boot onto his chest., glaring with unseen fury.

"Where the hell is Stickmin?"

The Toppat heaved with breath, trying to form words, but none came out. 

Their boot pressed harder. "I'm not going to ask again."

The Toppat wheezed, trying in vain to push their leg off his chest. "I… I don't…" 

" _ Fuckin'  _ useless." They pressed their boot harder, harder, until they felt the bones cracking beneath their weight.

They raised their head when another voice rasped out. "I…! I might have some sort of idea. I don't know a hundred-percent, but—"

The killer turned abruptly to face the Toppat, smoothly drawing a pistol from their hip and aiming it. "Start talking."

The Toppat swallowed hard. "I saw him when he attacked the ship. He flew in on these metal wings, looked to be cybernetically enhanced. I'm willing to bet the doc that fixed up Right Hand Man was the same that helped Henry out."

"What doctor?" The pistol cocked back. "Give me a name."

"Doctor V… uh… I- her name is really complic—"

**_POW_ **

"That's not the answer I'm looking for," they said coolly, over the deafening screech of the Toppat. They then slammed their foot down on the Toppat's shot leg, feeling the bone start to give under the weight. "You know the name, quit stalling. I can keep you alive as long as I need to to get what I want."

"Vinschpinsilstien," a tiny voice shot out from behind them, making them perk up and turn the slightest bit. The Toppat that spoke was trying to get to his feet, but so far had just managed a kneeling position. "Her name is Dr. Vinschpinsilstien. She runs a ship on the oceans. If anyone knows where Henry is, it's her."

The killer smiled underneath their mask, brushing a thumb along the black metal. "See?" They turned toward the Toppat, but still stared back at their previous victim. " _ That  _ is the type of answer I'm looking for." 

Then, they raised their gun and finished him off with a deafening gunshot.

Slow, deliberate steps came closer to the final remaining Toppat, and all he could do was stare down death headed his way.

"Thank you for actually having a brain under that hat." The killer knelt down and playfully tugged at the tattered brim of his top hat. "This information is gonna get me miles."

The Toppat gasped for a breath. "Why… why do you need Henry? What did he do?"

The killer paused, then sighed. They holstered their pistol, and fiddled with the button latching their cloak over their shoulder. "If you  _ must  _ know… he did  _ this _ ." The cloak fell away from their figure, revealing a short stump where their right arm should be. "Not to mention all the other damage." They fastened their cloak again hurriedly. "Are we done here? Do you know anything else?"

The Toppat swallowed hard. "Uh… the doctor usually goes on the oceans up north. Its pretty rare she goes south."

"Alright." They stood, seeming to be ready to run off. "Anything else?"

"Um… n-no." The Toppat went to get one foot under him, but the killer quickly grabbed him by the jaw.

"Then we're done here." They stayed stock still, even when the Toppat started whimpering at the tightening grip around his head.

They didn't even move when he started screaming and thrashing, desperate to get away.

They stared coldly through the mask's eye sockets, watching his head crumple like an empty soda can.

Then, they shook the brain matter off their fingers, smiling at a job well done.

_ "You better not be wasting time." _

Their smile dropped, and they let out an annoyed groan as they answered from their earpiece. "I'm not wasting time. I'm having a little fun!"

_ "So time is wasted." _

"I got everything I need. Don't worry, Nighty."

_ "Eagle—" _

"I know Stickmin's location, alright? I'm headed there now." Eagle started walking away from the fire and wreckage, looking up at the little sliver of a crescent moon hanging in the sky. "Don't you worry your pretty little head about it. I know what it takes to get the job done."

_ "Do not disappoint me, Eagle,"  _ the voice growled.  _ "Or it will be back underground." _

Eagle's heart slammed for a couple heartbeats at the prospect, but they just scoffed. "Alright, alright. Don't need to get mean about it. I'll catch up with you later."

Before the man had a chance to respond, they cut the signal. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> seems like.... there might be....... a problem.......


	3. Turning the Tide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry gets used to his new wing extensions, but practice gets cut a little short.

Henry tapped his feet onto the deck of the boat, his wings giving off a loud whirr as his fans spun off some extra steam. He stood proudly before the blonde in front of him, waiting to see what she had to say about his aerial performance.

Dr. Vinschpinsilstien made a few marks on her clipboard. "As always, you learn so quickly!" Henry beamed at the compliment, his wings fanning out as long as they could as if to soak up her praise. "Let's try again. Go for wide circles this time."

Henry nodded, flexing the "feathers" on the ends of his wings before leaping off the side of the boat. A burst of jet fuel later, and he was soaring up into the clouds.

It was exhilarating, being up this high. As he made a wide arc in his path, he reached a hand out to rustle up a bit of the cloud right above him. He then swiped the moisture on his hand over his hair, completing his arc and soaring higher.

_ "Excellent!"  _ The doctor spoke through the earpiece. "Try spiral formation now. Start off wide, then close in."

Henry obeyed, letting loose another burst of fuel to complete the movement. Part of him still wondered why these enhancements and maneuvers were necessary, but most of his concerns blew away with the wind rushing in his ears.

_ Okay… time to close in.  _ His wings folded back, the edges of his wings grazing against his sides as he closed the circle tighter and tighter.

_ "Wonderful!"  _ Henry beamed at her compliments.  _ "I think now can be time for break. Come back to boat, and—" _

Silence.

Henry waited, going in a lazy circle as he peered through the clouds at the ocean below him. Did she let go of the speaker? "Doc?" He called.

No answer.

His heart started to pick up pace. Now the image of the ocean under him wasn't a pleasant sight. He could almost feel Reginald breathing down his neck.

_ "I just wanted to look you in the eyes as I took it all back…" _

He hadn't even realized he was dipping in altitude until one of his wings suddenly snapped shut, plunging him closer to the water. He let out a panicked cry, twisting in the air as his left wing tried to keep him from diving further. 

_ Easy, easy!  _ He told himself, trying to bring his wing back out.  _ Just calm down, you're fine!  _ His wing cooperated, giving him enough time to rise back to the bottom of the clouds. He pressed the talk button on his earpiece. "Doc, are you there? I lost you for a sec…"

Again, there was no answer. He focused on the speck in the water below him. He didn't see any threat on the boat, but then again he could barely see the boat.  _ Guess it's time to come in for a landing. _

But where would be the right place to land? If the Doctor is really in trouble, then the front dock wasn't an option. He had to be sneaky. The roof of the boat might work if he caught the right angle… maybe if he dove underwater?

He shook his head, starting to fly downwards. The roof might be his best option, as long as nobody looked up.

As he got closer to fhe boat, he saw the Doctor and another figure. His heart skipped as black armor glinted in the sunlight. He was pretty far away, but he could tell this wasn't a friendly face. Especially since they had a rifle jammed right at Dr. Vinschpinsilstien's stomach.

_ Okay. Screw the rooftop landing. It's time to live up to that bodyguard promise. _

Henry angled his wings, going for a steeper dive. His heart started slamming in his stomach as he came closer to the water, getting a closer split-second look at the black-armored assailant.

At the last second, he snapped his wings out to crash right into the mysterious figure with what could be described as a battle cry. The two went flying off the other side of the ship, and Henry tried to shake off the force of the impact. He kept a tight grip on the figure's shoulders as he careened back up into the sky.

The figure thrashed, growling and digging their gloved fingers into his face and throat. Henry growled back, trying to incapacitate them to some extent. 

"You!" They shouted over the wind, finally latching their hand onto Henry's back, pulling at his left wing. Despite the thrashing, they managed to laugh. "Oh, it really  _ is _ you!"

Henry cried out, feeling his wing start to spiral out of control. He could hardly decipher what the person had said, too deafened by the wind and blood roaring in his ears. Another jerk of his wing sent both of them spiraling towards the ocean.

_ "Henry!"  _ The doctor cried into his earpiece.  _ "Use your wings! Your feathers!" _

Henry spared the only glance he could to his side, watching his bladed feathers twitch and spasm. In a quick reflex, he swung his right wing out, digging his feathers into his assailant's shoulder.

The assailant reached both arms up, grabbing onto the edge of Henry's jacket. "You're not getting rid of me that easy!" They snarled, "You and I are going to the boss!"

_ The boss!? So this guy doesn't work alone!  _ Henry wrestled their grip off his jacket, shaking them violently and dangling them with a not-so-strong grip. Now he kept level in the air, flying in a slow circle.

The assailamt tried to get the upper hand again, but their endeavors were fruitless, as Henry overpowered them in the air. Another violent shake sent his fingernails digging deep into their collar, with his other hand grabbing a fistful of their vest.

_ "Do not drop him!"  _ The doctor practically demanded.  _ "Bring him to boat." _

"But, doc—"

_ "Back to boat!" _

Henry begrudgingly obeyed, going for a smooth sail back to the boat. Once he was close enough, he dropped their attacker onto the deck, watching him roll across the woodboards helplessly.

Dr. Vinschpinsilstien quickly unclipped a pair of handcuffs, easily pinning the man down by her knee on his back, wrestling his hands into the cuffs. She was shouting in Russian, but Henry could understand the gist of what she was saying. It was some equivalent of  _ "Tell us who you work for, or im going to snap your neck." _

The man growled and struggled, even after the doctor stood off of him, but she had taken his rifle to keep pointed at him. "Henry," she ordered, "Take mask off."

Henry nodded, feeling just a twinge of nerves at the authority she suddenly had. He stepped forward and easily ripped the black mask off, revealing a scarred face glaring back at them. 

"Well?" The man asked, raising a split eyebrow. "Any questions, or are you just gonna stand there and gawk at me?"

"Why are you looking for Henry?" Dr. Vinschpinsilstien asked. "How did you know where to look?"

The man scoffed, reaching his head down to his shoulder to scratch his cheek. Then, he looked up to Henry. "Thought you could hide, huh? Well, your little Toppat buddies ratted you out."

"Toppat?" Henry blurted, eyebrows furrowing.  _ But… the airship AND the jungle base were both destroyed! I made sure of that! How did anybody walk away from that alive? _

"What Toppat?" The doctor asked. 

"Hell if I know, I wasn't there." The man shrugged again.

"Who sent you?" Henry asked, his voice barely working through his pounding heart. The man didn't answer, which made Henry scoff and shift his hand into its sword form. "Answer me!"

The man shot him an ugly smirk. "The boss."

"Who is your boss?" Dr. Vinschpinsilstien asked, shoving the barrel of the rifle to his head.

The man grunted as his head was pushed sideways. Then he just breathlessly chuckled. "You know you two don't scare me, right? I don't care if you kill me, I've served my purpose. The boss will get rid of me if you don't."

Dr. Vinschpinsilstien growled, using the butt of the rifle to smash into his head. "Useless," she hissed as his head hit the floor.

Henry stepped back, shooting Dr. Vinschpinsilstien an alarmed look. He felt his own head ache in sympathy; that hit was  _ hard _ .

The doctor didn't seem to care, though, as she picked him up by the collar of his armored jacket and dragged him into a sitting position against the wall of the boat. "Henry," she said, suddenly calm as she set the rifle down nedt to the man. "It is time we see General."

"General?" Henry whispered, cocking an eyebrow. "Like, a military general? Me?"

Dr. Vinschpinsilstien nodded. "Remember how I say I specialize in military-grade augmentations?"

"You work for the military," Henry said his sentence petering off into a sigh. He should have known.  _ Even the boat is army green!  _

Dr. Vinschpinsilstien nodded. "Da. If we have problem like this, we see General for help."

"Which one?" Henry asked, following her into the cockpit of the boat.

"Galeforce," the doctor responded, taking the wheel of the boat to make an adjustment. "He will know what to do. Has dealt with Toppat Clan for many years."

"Of  _ course _ ." Henry's stomach sank as the boat kicked up speed. 

Of  _ course  _ it would be the one general that had it out for him. Of every general in the military force, it had to be the one Henry wanted to see least. He only hoped that the general wouldn't be too frustrated. It had been a long half-year since going rogue on the mission that introduced him to the Toppat Clan, so maybe some things could be swept under the rug…  _ hopefully _ .

Henry did a little hop to climb back onto the roof of the boat, watching with a sick stomach as the waves flew by. 

He was never one to confront his past– he'd rather just run and hide. He never wanted to consider the fact that the criminal lifestyle could come back to bite him, but between coming back for Reginald, and now this? It was clear he was paying the price. 

All he hoped for was that he didn't have much more debt to pay to anyone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooo it appears as thing are.... as they say...... Getting Real.....


	4. Laying the Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry gets summoned to the office of General Galeforce to receive a briefing on his new mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> on God this fic makes me so hype to write

The first crime Henry ever committed was stealing money from his mom's wallet. He wasn't going to buy cigarettes, or drugs; he just wanted a couple candy bars from the gas station.

He got caught, of course, and given an earful. He could almost recall every word his mom said once she found out. He was let off pretty lightly, considering he was only eight years old, but even to this day he could recall the guilt pulling at his gut.

That's exactly what he felt now, nervously shifting from foot-to-foot in front of the desk of General Galeforce. He couldn't even bring himself to meet Galeforce's eye, the wrenching guilt in this stomach almost bringing him to tears– and the general hadn't even said a word yet. Dr. Vinschpinsilstien was waiting calmly beside him, her presence almost encouraging. Almost. 

Finally, the general spoke.

"Well, Henry, it looks like you've seen hell."

Henry gave a single nod, swallowing hard.

"Learned your lesson?"

"Mm-hmm." His mumble was barely audible.

"I also see that Vaya's fixed you up well."

"As well as can be," Dr. Vinschpinsilstien clarified with an affirmative hum.

"And our sources say that _you_ are the cause behind the Toppat bases colliding, resulting in a total disbanding and massacre of the Toppat Clan?"

"Mm-hmm," Henry mumbled again, a pain rising in his arm as if to remind him.

General Galeforce wound his hands together, leaning over his desk. "Henry. Look at me, now."

Henry rose his head, his neck trembling with the movement. He searched his face for any emotion, but all he caught was muted anger.

"I could have you killed right now," he says softly, as if it were everyday information. "After you go rogue and completely ruin a four-year investigation just for your own power high… by all accounts you should be lying in the dirt right now."

"I'd deserve it," Henry answers, his voice barely audible under his breath.

"But we're not done with you yet. I think after all this you owe us one. Doesn't that sound fair?"

"Yeah," Henry agrees, his voice a little louder. He knew that he'd be sent on some other mission, but this time he didn't have a problem with it. They didn't track him down and kidnap him this time, so at least he had time to say yes.

"We're hiring you to track down a criminal. A dangerous one." General Galeforce swiped a remote off his desk, turning on a projector. Dr. Vinschpinsilstien hit the lights, giving Henry full view of a PowerPoint the General had put together. "Now, we managed to get some more out of that guy you brought us. His information, paired with the clues we've been able to gather, we have pretty much a full scope of what we're dealing with."

The PowerPoint showed a picture of a darkened figure, looking somewhat like their assailant on the boat with their armored clothing and black mask. This one was much more scuffed and scarred, however. "We have a serial killer on our hands. Goes by Winter Eagle." General Galeforce showed another picture, a close-up of their mask taken seemingly seconds before disaster. "She's not targeting just random people, though. We've seen her finding what little remnants of the Toppat Clan there are, and killing them. Her crimes scenes are… pretty brutal."

The PowerPoint shifted, and Henry grimaced at the picture of a Toppat he recognized, but just barely. His head was completely crushed, and had it not been for the distinctively blonde hair sticking out from the brain matter, he wouldn't have known that was Sven. In his time piloting the airship he only met Sven a total of times he could count on one hand, since he was directing another division at the time, but he was a very competent top operator.

"After a bit of digging, we found out she doesn't work alone. She hires her own goons, but she herself is a pawn of Night Owl. They work as a team in their killings, but Owl seems to be the big boss, sending Winter Eagle out to do his dirty work." Another picture popped up in its own slide, of a much more stocky figure with thicker armor. They too wore a scuffed black mask with no distinctive features other than empty eye sockets. _That seems to be the motif here, I guess._

"And after some _more_ digging, we've found the faces behind the masks." Another slide popped up with two pictures; one was a mugshot, and the other of a more professional picture taken for an employee list or the like.

What made Henry's heart sink is that he recognized the face behind Night Owl.

"Now, since you've been to The Wall, I'm sure you're well-aquainted with Dmitri Petrov. He was the warden of the wall, and based on what we're looking at here… he's trying to get some payback after you broke out. His reputation was pretty spoiled, and getting you back into his custody will make him look a _lot_ better."

"Awh, great," Henry snapped. He thought he was done with The Wall, but now _that_ had to come back and bite him? Dealing with the Toppats was enough. What was next, security from the Museum would crop up and claim their revenge? Maybe some officers from Red Mesa? The fucking truck drivers from the Bank!?

"And Winter Eagle was a resident of The Wall; I dunno if you ever met her. Her name is Ellie Rose." General Galeforce motioned to the mugshot of a redhead with a mean scuff on her cheek and a glare affixed to her face. "We have no idea what happened to her, but now she's missing her arm, and apparently there's quite a bit of other damage. We haven't been able to see much, obviously."

Henry felt a pull of sympathy, showing through his frown. Maybe if he brought her back peacefully, they'd take pity and let Dr. Vinschpinsilstien make her a new prosthetic. 

"I can see you're already cooking up a plan," General Galeforced noticed with a nod and a tiny smile. "That's good. Charles will be giving you a ride again, you'll be going to her last-seen location. All you need to do is get her to stop all this mass murder– by any means necessary– before she starts targeting innocent civilians. Whether that be taking her into our custody, killing her, or just disarming her and leaving her in the middle of nowhere– we don't care. We want her dead, or alive and harmless."

Henry nodded in understanding, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He felt a squirm in his stomach at the concept of killing Ellie, and right away he knew he wouldn't be going down that route.

"We'd appreciate it if you could get Night Owl too, but he's not our top priority since he isn't stomping peoples' ribcages in. Ellie is your target."

Henry nodded again, about to open his mouth to speak, but the General cut him off.

"This is the last time I'm gonna give you this offer, Henry." General Galeforce stood up and walked around his desk to stare Henry down with a level of desperation in his eyes. "And the only reason I'm giving it to you is because I believe there's a heart somewhere in there. You're not just some self-centered criminal. You want a roof over your head and food on your plate just like the rest of us."

Henry nodded, the General's words not needing an audible agreement.

"So, if you bring us Ellie Rose, you'll be a free man. No criminal history, you'll be totally pardoned. Hell, we'll even give you a financial boost when you're done, or you can enlist to join us here! I won't say no to that."

The General was now nearly nose-to-nose with his hired mercenary, a calloused hand clamped uncomfortably tight onto his shoulder. "But if you go rogue on this mission, even step the _slightest_ toe out of line, then Vaya won't be able to help you when I rip that spine of yours out your damn back, you hear me?"

Henry swallowed hard, practically shrinking under the General's threat. Slowly, shakily, he nodded. He wasn't planning on going rogue, but now this threat solidified it. He owed so much to Vaya and the General for giving him this second chance, so he was going to make sure they knew he wasn't going to fool around this time. 

General Galeforce let go of Henry with his own nod back. "Good. You'll be shipping out once Charlie gets here. Don't let me down, Stickmin."

Henry stepped outside of the General's office, his heart still racing. Vaya looked much calmer; her default half-lidded expression not giving away any emotion.

"He's right, you know," the doctor said, hands stuffed properly into the pockets of her lab coat. "About me not helping you."

Henry shot her an alarmed look. "You'd let me just keel over and die?"

Vaya shrugs and pushes her glasses up her nose. "Am not supposed to help criminals. If you go rogue on mission, you are criminal."

Henry scoffs, trying to hide his face in his fuzzy collar by hiking his holders up to his ears as they walked. "Well, don't worry. I owe you and Galeforce everything, so bringing these two down will be a good step forward."

"Good." Vaya took a seat next to him in the designated waiting room, keeping an eye on the guard that came to escort them. She then looked back to his troubled expression. "You know I believe you?"

Henry cast her a side-glance. "Huh?"

Vaya sighed with a small smile. "I believe you are trying to be better person. Trying to do better, like you are trying to apologize for actions in your past."

Henry gave a deep sigh, running his hand through his hair. "I only joined the Toppats because… I never had anything like that before. Not just the leadership, but… just like-minded friends." He raised his head, feeling the top segments of his spine click. "People who'd actually smile at me, you know? I mean," He scoffed and nervously rubbed his cybernetic arm. "They weren't threatening to rip my spine out if I looked at them funny! They actually liked me! At least…" his metal hand clenched into a fist. "'Least I thought they did…"

Vaya's frown only deepend. "You want place to belong?" She asked slowly.

"More than anything," he admitted in a whisper. His fist pressed against his mouth as he tried to keep a sob in his throat.

"Tell you what." Vaya rubbed a small circle into his back, next to his spine. "If you complete mission, you can have permanent job on boat."

Henry gently turned his head, reading Vaya's expression. She had her typical serious face, but it was softer than usual; it was worried. Part of him nagged that she was just giving him undeserved pity.

"Could always use an assistant," Vaya went on. "Especially if another person like you needs saving. You make good bodyguard, too."

"I guess," Henry mumbled, shrugging. "I mean, I like the boat, don't get me wrong! I just… don't know how to feel about being enlisted in the military…"

Vaya hummed. "I understand. Military sometimes does horrible things. Kill civilians, take over land they don't own… would be horrible to associate yourself with that." She wrung her hands into her lap. "But… the boat is not like that. We help people, like I helped you."

Henry tilted his head in her direction when she fidgeted with the sleeve of her lab coat. "Yeah, I… guess it would be nice to help people out like that."

"I can teach you everything I know," she said, looking up at him with a small smile. "If you are good with electronics, it will become second nature."

"Well… you do say I always learn quick." He shot the doctor a shy smile. "I'll think about it."

Just then, the door in front of them opened, and a man nervously held up his hand to adjust bright red headphones over his ears.

"Uh, Henry?" Charles waved in a _come on_ motion. "Time to go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remember someone in the comments saying that a possibility for this fic was Ellie coming back, and I just gotta say props to you for calling it!


	5. Scouting Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry gets sent along on his mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah I think in running out of "____ the ____" chapter titles lmao, hope you enjoy nonethless!

_ "I'm sure the General already filled you in," _ Charles' voice bled through Henry's headset over the deafening blades of the helicopter.  _ "So I'm just gonna drop you off. I think you can handle this on your own, so don't ask for my help unless you actually need it." _

Henry cringed at the bite Charles' voice had, keeping his eyes on his shoes. They had been flying for about an hour now in silence, and the loud hum of the helicopter became background noise to the whirlwind of thoughts going through Henry's head.

There were several different ways he could deal with the Winter Eagle. He already crossed out the thought of killing her, and talking her down seemed to be the best option. It definitely wouldn't be easy to talk her into peace, if her gory track record was anything to go by, but he had to at least  _ try _ .

He had been given a pack full of supplies, of which he knew would all come in handy. A grappling hook, a few feet of rope, MREs…  _ why is there a gun in here?  _

Slowly, he took the pistol out of the bag, cringing at the weight in his hands.  _ Yyyeah. No thanks. I dont need this.  _ Even if he had to incapacitate Ellie, he had many way that didn't involve using a gun.

"H...Hey, Charles?"

_ "What?" _

"I, uh… I don't think I'm gonna use this gun. Where can I put it?"

_ "Back in your bag,"  _ Charles responded snappily.

"But I'm not gonna use it, and–"

_ "So just don't touch it. What's the deal?" _

"I just don't want it taking up space in my bag."

_ "It's not  _ that  _ big. Just deal with it. Besides, shouldn't you be used to guns at this point?" _

"But I'm not—"

_ "Just shut up about it and quit complaining, Henry! God…" _

Henry flinched, almost pulling the headset off as he shrunk in on himself.

_ "Yeah, don't think I'm all of a sudden gonna be nice to you. Just because Galeforce is giving you a second chance doesn't mean I am. Just..."  _ Charles sighed through the headset.  _ "Can you just shut up and let me concentrate on flying?" _

Henry murmured a simple "sorry," before stuffing the gun back into his bag, bringing one leg up to hug to his chest. He then moved the microphone to his headset out of the way of his mouth, leaving his troubled eyes on the clouds outside the helicopter. If the sun's position was any indicator, they were getting close. If they were on the ground they'd barely be able to see the sun, but now its bold orange glare shone fully in his eyes, making him squint angrily.

Henry had no clue why Charles was so mad at him– okay, he had  _ some  _ idea, but he didn't really peg him as the type to hold a grudge.  _ Whatever,  _ he told himself.  _ I can apologize to him later.  _

_ "Okay, listen up." _ Charles' voice cut into Henry's headset, and immediately the mercenary sat up at attention.  _ "Here's the plan: we're getting close to around where we last saw her. On my signal, you're gonna drop and go stealth mode through that little cabin down there. I'll stick close by in case you need any help, but I'll be out of sight so she doesn't see me. Once you've got her, signal back to me and we can take her back to base. Got it?" _

"Roger that," Henry said, standing up and shouldering his pack. For a moment he felt a little grateful the bite had faded from Charles' voice, even if just a little. 

With a loud  _ click _ , the helicopter's door swung open, and Henry grabbed onto the right side of the door to keep himself steady. Looking down at the vast forest, He could make out the roof of the cabin Charles pointed out. 

_ "Okay. Ready? One, two… drop!" _

Henry took a step off the safety of the helicopter, sending him plunging down towards the ground. He let himself rocket downwards in a freefall, letting the wind scream through his ears. 

For just a fleeting moment, watching the tops of the trees get closer, he heard a nagging voice in his head.  _ Don't open your wings. Just fall. _

Henry shook his head, letting the thought travel away in the wind.  _ That's stupid!  _ He reprimanded, snapping his wings open for a parachute effect.  _ Just get this mission done, and we can go back to the boat.  _

The metal blades on the tips of his wings scraped against trees and shaved off a few branches on his way down. With a quick flip, he caught a branch and landed safely on the ground, his knees digging into the dirt.  _ Okay,  _ he told himself, brushing some leaves out of the creases in his wings as they folded back into his spine,  _ no more playing around. Keep your guard up. _

It wasn't a long walk before he came to the front of an old cabin. The windows were boarded up, the chair on the porch had been colored orange in rust, and as he stepped closer he was pretty sure he saw a rat scurrying into a crack in the wall. He pressed the talk button on his headset. "Are you  _ sure _ this is the right place?" He muttered.

_ "Yeah, it is. You might wanna keep it down if she's still around." _

Henry shook his head, but obeyed the command as he stepped closer.  _ There's no way this is a base of operations. _

Despite his disbelief, he stepped onto the porch, feeling the rotten wood creak under his weight. Gently, he laid his hand on the rusty doorknob.  _ Okay… here goes nothing… _

Inside wasnt much to see. There was no furniture, no appliances in the conjoined kitchen, if anything it looked like it had been moved out of and totally abandoned.

Wait, not totally abandoned. There, in the corner of the dusty living room, laid a tiny blinking Wi-Fi router. Its sleek black surface was enough to prove that it had been installed recently, and let Henry know the building still had power.  _ Someone actually uses this place?  _ He wondered.

A sudden muffled noise caught his attention to the hallway to his left, next to where the router was plugged in. He took a ginger step closer, starting to hear voices.

_ "...did what you told me to do! I found him, I sent you the location! You got all my video feed!" _

Henry held a gasp in his throat.  _ That's the guy from the boat! I thought the Government took him? _

_ "Yeah, and you know what I found on that video feed?"  _ A new warbly voice demanded. It was deep, husky, definitely sounded modified.  _ "You tried to kill him." _

_ "But I—!"  _ Another, more visceral crack cut his sentence off, making Henry flinch.

_ "Don't you even THINK about fuckin' lying to me, Chuck! The one thing, the ONE thing I told you not to do was kill him. And what the FUCK do you do!?" _

A sharp scream rang through the house again, this time accompanied by a mortifying  _ crunch _ . Henry closed his eyes, feeling his body tremble uncomfortably. Still, he pushed through the feeling, towards the door. He tried to block out the pained whimpers emanating from behind it by stuffing his headset fully over his ears, pressing hard and hoping the dead static would be louder.

_ "You've served your purpose,"  _ the raspy voice growled.  _ "I don't need you anymore." _

_ "No, nono, please! Please, let me go!" _

_ "Too late for apologies, Chuckie. You should have just kept your finger off the trigger." _

Henry took in a deep breath, forcing a blade out of his metallic arm.  _ I can't let her kill anyone else!  _ With a single shove, the old door splintered open with a loud  _ CRACK.  _ "Step away from the—!"

He paused. His eyes narrowed in confusion, as well as in an effort to keep the dust he kicked up out of them. "Wait…"

Nobody was there. Among the dirt and rubble lay a simple black speaker, which was now playing nothing but white noise. Slowly, he stepped closer and knelt down to examine the object. "Was it really…"

_ It was just a recording! Is this a trap!?  _ He shuffled his feet under him, his realization allowing panic to settle in. 

He was quickly met with a cold, heavy hand clamped tightly onto the back of his neck.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?"

Before he could even blink, he was thrown backwards, through the wall, back into the living room.

He didn't have time to raise his head before his surroundings went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohoohohohoho Yeah boy its all happening
> 
> Also, if you wanna keep updated about the fic, see some extra things such as character refs or little musings, then im pleased to announce that this fic has a tumblr page dedicated to just that! Give it a follow if you enjoy the story if ya like :D
> 
> https://nbvom.tumblr.com/


	6. Fleeing the Convict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry puts up a good fight against the Winter Eagle, but it isn't enough to save him for very long.

Henry could barely see through his blurred vision and the pounding agony his heartbeat sent through him. All he knew is that he was outside the cabin now, running away from the Winter Eagle chasing closely behind. 

"Come on, Henry!" Her voice screeched behind him. "Stop running! Make this easy for yourself!"

Henry hung a sharp left, unable to see the large root hidden under a swathe of leaves. As expected, his foot caught and sent him crashing to the forest floor.

Desperately, Henry's fingers trembled over every button they could on his headset. "Charles!" He managed through breathless lungs, "Charles, I need backup!" He scrambled, trying to get his feet under him to no avail.

"I wouldn't waste your time," Winter Eagle snarled, lurching forward and grabbing Henry by the ankle, dragging him backwards towards her. "I doubt he even cares!"

Henry grunted, flipping himself over and lashing his robotic hand out. He only heard the gears clicking and shifting; he hadn't seen what he turned his arm into— whatever it was made Eagle cry out and stumble back. 

Finally jerking his feet under him, he barreled out of her reach and through the trees, his feet under him nearly lagging behind. Again, he screamed into his headset. "Charles, I _need_ backup!" He shot his head to the sky for a moment, trying to catch a glimpse of the helicopter. "Come on, I'm not fucking around!"

Nothing answered him but the pounding footsteps catching up to him from behind. He looked down at his cybernetic arm, which he now saw had transformed into a whip of sorts.

Turning around met him with a pistol aimed squarely between his eyes. "Don't move," Eagle demanded, only stepping closer. "You're not getting away from me, Stickmin."

Henry's breath was catching in his throat, his ribs nearly breaking with how hard his heart was pounding, and how deep his breaths were. Smoothly, his robotic arm switched to his normal form and slowly, he held his hands up, chest-level. "H-Hey, look–"

Eagle lunged forward to dig the barrel of the gun deep into Henry's neck, making him choke. He saw no emotion behind the simple black mask, but knew that Ellie behind it was glaring. "Don't you fucking start!" She hissed, "Whatever you have to say to me, it can wait until we get back to base."

Henry's breath flowed heavily in and out of his lungs, his heart rocketing into his throat. Quickly, he tried to come up with _something_ to get him out of this.

He could try speaking to her again. _No… that'd just get me killed. She already looks like she's ready to pull the trigger._

Maybe pulling something out of his pack? _No, no… knowing my luck I'll pull out something harmless, like a band-aid._

He did still have his gun— _No. Absolutely not. Not only would she get angrier, but I'm not going to kill her._

She was closing the small distance between them now, sheathing her gun to grab for him. He had to do _something_ , and fast.

With a sharp breath and a series of mechanical whirrs, his robotic hand lashed out and struck pointed claws across her mask. He then raised his foot to kick her back, barely listening to her scream as he bolted the other direction. 

Jamming his hand over his headset, he tried screaming out again. "CHARLES!" He ducked under a low-hanging branch, feeling tears start to pick his eyes. "I swear to God, if you're ignoring me just to get back at me, now isn't the fuckin' time!"

A chilling, animalistic screech cut through Henry's words, and before he knew it he was back on the ground again, a new black spark of pain shooting through his head.

This time, he rolled himself over just in time to avoid the Winter Eagle's boot coming down for his head. On impulse, he reached his hand out and dug claws deep through the black denim she was wearing, trying at the very least to draw blood and slow her down.

"Aw, how cute." Eagle lifted her leg, grabbing onto Henry's robotic hand with a death grip. "Okay, listen up buddy." Henry grunted as he was forced into a standing position. "Owl fuckin' hates it when I have my fun, so we're just gonna cut to the chase and start moving."

Henry swallowed hard, his voice almost failing. "H… how did…"

"What?" Eagle tilted her head, a tiny giggle echoing behind the mask. "How did I know where to find you? How did I know they'd send you after me? How did I have all this time to set this up?"

Henry choked, feeling her fingers dig between his metal vertebrae. "I've been a step ahead this entire time," Eagle went on, starting to drag him by the throat despite his thrashing. "We've been keeping an eye on you. And now that we got you…" again, she giggled, adding a hop to her step. "Ohh, man! My life just got ten times better!"

Henry choked again, feeling one of his wings jerk out of his spine. It uncomfortably maneuvered around his backpack, only to drag against the ground. With the breath being held from his lungs, he couldn't afford much effort to fight back. All of the teasing remarks from the Winter Eagle faded into the white noise behind his ears, and before he knew it he was almost passed out.

That is, until his head hit the hard bark of a tree, jolting the exhaustion out of his head. His captor's voice swam in his ears. "Oh no, you're not passing out on me already. Wake the fuck up."

Henry groaned, feeling tears prick his eyes as his headset slipped off to dangle by his neck. He weakly reached up to grab onto Eagle's wrist. "Please… just…"

Eagle scoffed, easily jerking her hand away and raking it into his hair, forcing him onto his feet. "What a disappointment," she said, shaking her head at him. "I was expecting the infamous Henry Stickmin to actually put up a fight. I mean, how is _this_ the man that forced his way to the head of the Toppat Clan?" She lifted him by the air, staring at his beaten face with disdain.

Henry couldn't reply, even if he wanted to. He just numbly dragged his feet side-by-side with Eagle as she lead him through the forest.

"Think of this as a little payback," Eagle said, taking a moment to ruffle his hair fake-affectionately. "You had this coming. You had this coming the day you broke out of the Wall. The day you took _everything_ from me."

Henry's tears started a stream down his cheeks, teeth grit with confusion and anger. _What the hell did I even DO to you, Ellie!?_

"It's eye for an eye in this shithole of a world, Henry," Eagle said coolly, stopping at the side of a cracked and broken road. In front of them was a large black pickup truck, halfway dusted in mud. "You took everything from me, so now I'm gonna take everything from _you_. It's only fair, don't you think?"

He didn't respond. He couldn't, as the back door to the truck opened and a rougher, more forceful pair of hands snagged him by the collar and yanked him into the truck.

And once more, he was slammed into unconsciousness.

Not once, did he hear Charles shouting at him.

"Henry? Hellooo? God dammit, what are you doing!?" Charles scoffed, squinting into the dark forest. "I lost you, Henry. I'm gonna need you to give your location."

Once more, just dead static.

Charles held a growl in his throat as he frustrated my slammed his hands onto the helicopter's steering wheel. "Are you in trouble? Do you need backup? Can you tell me literally fucking _anything_ about what you're doing down there?"

With a quick sigh, Charles rummaged around his backpack, pulling out a rather bulky pair of binoculars. "Okay, you son of a bitch, where'd you go?"

He wasn't looking for a minute before his jaw dropped.

"No… no fucking way."

Henry was entering a sleek black truck, right next to Winter Eagle. His heart nearly stopped at the sight of the assassin, but moreso the sight of Henry right next to her and not doing anything about it.

Charles felt a flame ignite in his chest as he dropped the binoculars into the passenger seat. With an angry hiss, he spoke into his headset. 

"This is Charles, reporting to base. Stickmin's gone rogue."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things aren't looking so good for our dear friend Henry, are they?
> 
> (If you want updates and extras about the fic, be sure to follow the tumblr! https://nbvom.tumblr.com)


	7. Plan B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaya tries to compromise with the Government. Henry finds himself in an all-too-familiar predicament.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to split this into 2 chapters but tbh?? 2000 words is a good length so here ya go!
> 
> All u dmitri stans come get ur juice here's your complimentary Wall hat

"What do you _mean_ , gone rogue!?" Vaya practically screamed, taking a storm towards Charles before General Galeforce grabbed her arm. The dim light in the office seemed to only highlight the fury in her eyes.

"I mean, gone rogue!" Charles shouted back, just as infuriated. "Waltzing right into a truck with Ellie. Wasn't exactly fighting for his life or calling me for help, either!"

"You're a liar," Vaya hissed. "How could you just _leave him_ with no help down there!?"

"Vaya." General Galeforce made a quick pull on her arm. "You need to calm down."

"No! We need to go after him!" She turned to the General, trying to yank her arm away, but he held calmly and steadfast.

General Galeforce shook his head. "I believe we can trust Charles on this. He's never lied to me before, and is the only eyewitness we have. He'd have no reason to lie about this, anyway."

Vaya scoffed. "I hardly believe that!" She glared right back at Charles, who was cross-armed and giving a half-lidded stare back at her. "I know you hate him. This was way of getting rid of him, wasn't it?"

Charles snuffed. "As much as I _love_ that idea…" he muttered, only half-sarcastic.

General Galeforce studied gave a heavy sigh, letting the doctor's arm go. "Vaya, you can't say you're surprised. You know what he did to the Toppat mission!"

"And you know what he did to Toppats," she fired back.

"Vaya," the General growled in annoyance, pressing his hands to his weary face.

Vaya acted as though she didn't hear. She turned to Charles, eyes alight with anger. "How can we trust man in helicopter when Henry was on ground? You didn't send anyone else to help him?"

"He could always handle himself," Charles snapped back, arms crossing tighter over his chest. "I don't see why this time was any different. If you ask me, all those cybernetics left him better off."

Vaya held a growl in her throat. "You are lying." She accused, "he wouldn't just run off, he's not stupid!"

"He's not stupid," General Galeforce agreed to an extent. "But selfish." There was a darkness around his eyes as he stepped back towards his desk.

Vaya turned to the General now, disbelief stuck across her face as though she'd been slapped. "Then what did you give him this second chance for?" She questioned, her voice surprisingly calm. "what happened to him being just like us? Wanting food and shelter?"

"I was wrong," General Galeforce said through grit teeth. "I thought that _maybe_ giving him a second chance would help him… and all that's done is give him a one-way ticket back into a life of crime. With a better chance of success, thanks to all those augmentations you gave him."

"He wouldn't—!"

General Galeforce looked up, an icy cold glare piercing through Vaya's glasses. "Until further notice, Henry Stickmin is on a wanted list– dead or alive. As far as we're concerned, he's a top-operating criminal who's teamed up with the most bloodthirsty and violent serial killer we've seen in _years_." He looked past the doctor to Charles. "We're moving to Plan B. Let the bosses know."

"Yes, sir." Charles gave a quick salute before leaving.

Vaya stayed, trembling with anger. "You're putting target on an innocent man."

General Galeforce tugged a paper out from a nearby file, never looking up at her. "I don't know what he's been telling you to get you to act like this. It's only been a week, Vaya. You really think he'd completely turn around just like that?"

"He hasn't been telling," Vaya hissed. "He's been _showing_ . He has proved to me he is ready to change. This was supposed to help him change! _You_ were supposed to help him!"

General Galeforce hesitated with a pen in his hand. His eyes were searching the fine print at the bottom of the page, legal jargon he'd memorized by now.

Then, he finally looked up at her. "You're not going to help Henry if he comes crawling back. We gave him his second chance."

"But—!"

"Ah-uh! I don't wanna hear it. The second you see that sumbitch, you're putting a bullet between his eyes." He raised his eyebrows expectantly. "That's an order."

Vaya gripped at her wrist, her expression darkening, her heartbeat shaking the loose locks of blonde in front of her face. "You… you…!"

"That's an order, Vaya," General Galeforce repeated, scribbling a signature onto the paper. "Is that clear?"

Vaya swallowed a lump in her throat as she painfully righted her posture. "Yes," she muttered, though anyone could tell she was willing every part of her being to force the word out.

"Then you're dismissed."

Vaya slammed the door behind her as hard as she could yank it. The guard stationed next to the door jumped, giving her an alarmed side-glance before turning back at attention. 

She barely processed storming down the hallways, past the guards on the docks, right into the cockpit of her boat. In the rush, her glasses had started to slip off her nose, and the world gained a dark red tint.

She didn't care, though. The boat _rummed_ to life, and the waves immediately flared behind it, splashing the edge of the dock as it tore out of Government waterspace.

Once the base was far out of sight, Vaya set the boat to a casual autopilot so she could pace her stress out. Hot tears welled in her eyes, starting to streak down her face, set with a sad glare.

She tried to occupy herself. She stepped outside to the front deck, walked back inside, picked up a shard of scrap metal, tossed it into the trash can, snatched her clipboard off the table with the intention of writing _something_ , but nothing came to mind so she threw it down onto the bed– Henry's bed.

Finally, she just crumbled to her knees, pressing her back against that bed and wringing her hands through her hair with grit teeth, trying to suppress a sob in her throat to no avail. Tears ran down her face, the world dark reds, blacks and blues without her glasses.

_What am I going to do? What am I going to DO!?_

She looked up, reaching for a piece of scrap metal that missed the trash can. Then, she grasped at the sleeve of her lab coat. Almost immediately, her tears stopped with a sudden realization.

She's done it before– albeit consequence had shortly followed every time. But that never stopped her in the past. Why was she crying now?

She stood up on shaky legs, making her way to the cockpit as she adjusted her glasses so the world was normal again. "Just because it is order… that doesn't mean I have to obey it."

With a few quick configurations, she set a course for an outpost nearby. She'd need to be making contacts as quick as possible.

"Don't worry Henry," she murmured, staring into the vast ocean in front of her. "Government might not help you, but I will."

* * *

_"RISE AND SHINE, ASSHOLE!!"_

Henry was jolted awake with the scream, quickly followed by a sharp pain making his head crane upward. He could hardly let out a surprised cry before exhaustion set in.

A deep laugh rumbled through the room. "He is awake."

Henry squinted. This was _absolutely_ an interrogation room. It wasn't just the fact he was handcuffed to a painfully tiny metal chair that gave it away; there wasn't a door in sight, and he was half-blinded by a bright spotlight. _What is it with interrogations having the spotlight? I don't get it._

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" Winter Eagle's voice chirped from behind him. Her fingers untangled from his hair, causing his head to dip forward. "Any idea where you are?"

Henry shrugged tiredly.

"Let me give you a hint," a heavy accent droled, and the second figure walked into the light. His beard was frazzled, eyes narrow with anger. "You have definitely been here before." Despite the fury, he held a smirk on his face as he adjusted an eyepatch covering his left eye.

Henry's teeth clenched, not daring to look at Dmitri.

"Still can't guess?" Eagle asked, bowing deeply to try and stare at him through her mask. "Lemme give you a hint. It starts with a W…"

"Well, this isn't necessarily The Wall, I should correct," Dmitri interrupted. "My complex was destroyed when you decided to break out."

Henry finally looked up, quirking an eyebrow in a _why should I care_ expression. Still, he wouldn't utter a word.

"Welcome to The Underground, Henry," Dmitri formally greeted, gesturing behind him. "Built right under The Wall. Everyone who has opposed us or stood in our way has been taken here, to live out the rest of their lives as we see fit."

A blood-curdling shriek suddenly pierced the air from the room across the hallway behind Henry, who flinched at the noise. "It isn't fun being a prisoner here," Eagle said, wandering around Henry's chair with a bounce to her step. "So… needless to say, you're in pretty deep shit right now."

Dmitri's ugly smirk grew as he leaned in closer to Henry, arms tucked politely behind his back. "You can guess why you're here, can't you?"

Henry glared back at him, almost daring to spit the blood gathering in his mouth at his face. 

"Not only did you ruin my reputation, not only did you destroy everything I worked my entire life to build…" He leaned back away from the man with a tut. 

Winter Eagle stepped into Henry's view, finishing Dmitri's thought. "But when you called your little rescue operation, you set the convicts free. The most dangerous criminals the world has ever seen, just left to roam around and do whatever."

Henry finally scoffed, a trail of blood leaking out of his mouth. "What, like _you_?"

Eagle tensed, her fist clenching at her side.

Henry's nose crinkled with a small snarl. "Yeah, Galeforce told me about all your little killing sprees. You think you're better than anyone else when you're caving people's skulls in?"

Dmitri stepped back into the shadows as Eagle's fist trembled, then unclenched. "Why do you ask?" She murmured, her hand slowly raising. "And why are you asking like _that_ ? Do _you_ think you're any better than us?"

Henry faltered, but kept his glare.

"Huh? You _really_ think that you got a second chance, and that just magically makes you a better person? Just because that doctor made you her personal lab rat, all your sins are off your back? You think being on that fuckin' dinghy lets you run away from all your problems?" Her fingers were now gripping her mask, trembling in the harsh light. "Huh? Is that it?" Just the slightest bit, the mask shifted to expose a little bit of her chin.

"No," Henry murmured, his glare fading with a mounting guilt building in his stomach.

"You don't even know what damage you caused when you broke out," she went on, stepping closer. "Just because you left everything behind doesn't mean it just disappeared. Your little stunt got fifty-eight people _killed_ . Two hundred more injured. But you didn't even _consider_ that, did you?"

Henry's heart pulled at the ground, forcing a few tears to prick at the backs of his eyes. "I didn't—"

"Don't you fucking _dare._ " Eagle's hand suddenly snapped forward, gripping Henry by the jaw to force his head upwards. "Don't you start that sob story. I don't wanna hear it, and I don't want to see you sniveling like a bitch trying to get my sympathy. Don't play pretend with me."

The force of her touch just made him tear up more, instinctively trying to jerk out of her grip, and at that moment he was surprised to find his headphones still around his neck. _I thought they'd confiscate these…_

"You can drop the goody two-shoes act now, Henry." Eagle took her hand away from his face, brushing it along her cloak. "We know the truth down here. You're as fucked up as the rest of us."

"The sooner you accept that fact," Dmitri said, yanking his hand through Henry's hair to stare into his eyes, "the sooner youll see it's not so bad down here."

Dmitri and Eagle both started trailing behind him, and he heard a doorknob jiggling. Shortly after, the door slammed shut.

That was the last thing he heard before he was left in deafening silence.

His instincts told him to cry. He so badly wanted to hang his head and let all the built-up tears out… but then he remembered.

They should have known the first time to not leave him alone in a room. Surveillance or not, there was a way he could get out of here. First, he needed to break these handcuffs.

_Okay... What do I have in my pockets?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things are potentially looking up for once?? But I don't think Winter Eagle or mister Owl will let Henry just Leave...


	8. Meeting With Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaya makes a very valuable connection to someone she thinks can help her find Henry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Initially this was part of another split-chapter, with the other half being Henry and his shenanigans, but Henry's shenanigans got too long so that's gonna be a separate chapter. Enjoy some Vaya content instead!! :D

The rickety door shuddered to a close behind Vaya, and instantly the warmth from the bar overpowered the frigid snow outside. She sighed with relief, relaxing from her hunched position. She took a brief look around.  _ It's a lot more active than usual… _

Several patrons were drinking at the tables and the bar, some asleep in their arms with a bottle still in their hand. The small TV on the other side of the bar was broadcasting a news program she couldn't care less about. The bartender was idly cleaning a mug, acting as though nobody was there.

A hand suddenly shot into the air, flagging her down from the back of the bar. "Oi! Over here!"

Vaya turned to the voice, smiling at the familiar face as she approached. "It has been a while, Baxter."

"Indeed it has, Doctor," her friend replied, gesturing to the chair opposite of him. "Please, take a seat." As she sat, he fixed a sky blue hat over his head.

Vaya sat down with a sigh. "How have you been? Job treating you well?"

Baxter nodded. "Yeah. I got set up in a more remote station not too far from here. It's colder, less chaos to contain… I don't think I've seen anythin' over a five-point-seven, so I haven't gotten a chance to bring out the big guns."

"Well, that is good…" Vaya mumbled, trying to pretend she was fully listening.

Baxter studied her with a sympathetic grimace. "You look exhausted, Doctor."

"I am," Vaya admitted finally, slumping over to bury her head in her arms. "So much has been going on, and… and now everything's taken turn for worst." She raised her head, but only just a little to peek at him from over her sleeve.

Baxter hummed. "Well…" he picked up a bottle off the floor beside him, effortlessly popping the cap off on the side of the table. "How 'bout a drink while ya' tell me about it?"

Vaya hummed, then nodded her thanks as she took the bottle. Whatever the alcohol was burned down her throat, the strong taste of ginger rasping the edge of her groan. Finally, she spoke. "I need your help tracking someone down before military finds him first."

Baxter raised his eyebrows, taking a sip from his own bottle. "Now, that's a fairly tall order. I mean, it's possible, but… can I ask why?"

"Because he's innocent," Vaya replied, "and they want to kill him."

Baxter snorted. "Wouldn't be the first time." He leaned back, taking another sip of beer. "What's in store for if we rescue him? You got a backup plan if the military finds your ship?"

"We find Winter Eagle. We complete his mission." She fumbled her fingers around her bottle. "That will set him free."

"Ah, I see." Baxter nodded. "He's after that serial killer?"

Vaya nodded. "Last they saw him, he was getting into vehicle with her." Her eyes darkened. "They say he willingly went, but I don't believe that at all. Not for a second."

Baxter hummed. "Well, alright. What's the name?" He bent down to his side again, rifling through his backpack.

"Henry Stickmin." Vaya watched, taking another drink, as Baxter paused in his movements, slowly raising his head up to meet her eyes. "What… what's wrong?"

"Well shoot my foot in muddy water, why don't ya!" Baxter dove back into his backpack, finally taking out a notebook with a pen. "If it was Stickmin, you coulda' said somethin' sooner!"

Vaya quirked an eyebrow. "You know him?"

" _ Know  _ him?" Baxter huffed, "he's been in our crosshairs for timelines!" He flipped through page after page of scribbles. "Yes, timelines with an 'S'. More than one. More than five! More than—"

"—Okay," Vaya interrupted, waving her hand dismissively. "Will you help me find him?"

Baxter had a grin as he nodded. "Of course! I've been wanting to meet this guy ever since the boss told me to keep an eye out for him. You have no clue how he's messed up the multiverse. So many timelines— we almost had to do a total reset! This world, along with countless other multiverses woulda' had to go  _ poof _ !"

Vaya was only half-listening to his prattling. "So, what can we do to find him?"

"Well, we have flyin' stations all over the place, but… where would this Winter Eagle likely taken him? We could start there."

Vaya hummed through another sip of beer, trying to think. "She is working with Petrov. The Wall was destroyed, still under repairs. Could be nearby still… watching progress."

"To The Wall, then?" Baxter asked, tilting his head back for another drink. "I can get us there fairly quick." He scribbled in his notebook, hardly looking up to Vaya as he spoke.

Vaya stayed silent, watching her friend write as she weighed her options. "Well… yes, that will have to work for now. I cannot tell General, so this will have to be secret."

Baxter nodded, writing ' **SECRET'** at the top of his current page in bold. "Alrighty. Lips locked, not a word!" He then snapped his notebook shut, stuffing it back into his backpack. "I can get us to The Wall, we can sneak a snoop around, and if Henry is there we can rescue him."

"And, if he's not…" Vaya swallowed hard, then snagged her bottle, taking a long drink that left her lungs burning for air. 

She didn't want to think about it. Henry being missing was one thing, and having him being taken by the worst serial killer she's ever seen was enough to have her nerves in a constant bundle… if Henry wasn't at the only logical place she could think of…

"Alright." Baxter had stood up, flopping his backpack onto the table for a moment to store the extra bottles of ginger beer he'd brought. "Something tells me you wanna get moving as quick as we can." He halfway smirked at Vaya's fervent nod. "I can call up the boss and have him send a small dropship. Trust me, everyone will be willing to help if it means we can actually meet Stickmin."

"Well, his reputation is good for  _ something _ ." Vaya felt a giggle as she stood up, taking her bottle with her as they walked to the door. "Let's just hope he is where we think he is."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for the record Baxter is my own OC and last time I checked there wasnt a Baxter in the bios but with the fact that there's like 200+, bios in CtM it wouldn't surprise me lol


	9. Meeting a... Friend?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry attempts an escape and comes across an unlikely accomplice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this WAS originally part of a full chapter before it got too long I decided why the heck not :3 I hope enjoy!

_ A bobby pin, a quarter, my wings, or my arm. _

Henry could see how each object would help, but he also could see each object backfiring. 

For instance, the bobby pin could easily help him pick the lock of the handcuffs, but it could also snap inside the lock and leave it jammed forever. 

His arm was the obvious option, but he was still getting used to everything it could do. He didn't want to try to break out the handcuffs and end up blowing half the building apart.

For a moment, he shuddered. The Winter Eagle's words were still ringing in his head.  _ Did I really get fifty-eight people killed? I didn't mean it. I really didn't, I just… _

_ Focus, Henry. _

He shook his head, weighing his other options. He didn't know what he could do with the quarter… except maybe melt it down into a lockpick with his robotic hand. Again, he didn't know what all his hand could do, so maybe he could table that for a last resort.

What he could rely on were his wings.

Exhaustion had set in, or maybe they had done something to restrict them, but regardless he couldn't just pop them out like he normally did. He hung his head with a sigh, trying to think. 

_ What was that thing Dr. V did to pop them out? She hit one of my vertebrae, right? Which one was it…? _

He straightened up, ignoring the tug of the handcuffs against his wrist. He tried writhing in the seat, trying to get the top of the chair to hit the vertebra, but it didn't seem to work. "C'mon," he muttered under his breath, "cooperate with me for a sec, will ya?"

He was halfway slipping onto the floor when he finally found the right vertebra. He could feel the metal shifting inside his spine, and it was an odd, scratchy feeling, reminiscent of an itch he couldn't reach. "Come on… come on…"

_ There it is!  _

His wings shot out of his back with a  _ fwoosh _ . He couldn't help but grin, stamping down a cry of victory. His feathers scraped along the surface of the concrete floor, and quickly he brought them up to not make too much noise. It was a quick realization that he was out of jet fuel; he couldn't even turn his fan rotors.  _ They must have siphoned out all the gas… fuck. There goes that plan.  _

He could still try something, though. He tried angling his wing towards the handcuffs. The feathers were sharp, so maybe he could cut them off?

_ Please work, please work, please work… ow ow ow ow owowowow— _

_ YES! Yes God thank you! _

His hands jerked to the side as the chain snapped, and immediately he flexed his robotic hand, glad to know that it still worked. 

"Okay," he whispered to himself, bending down to tug at his leg restraints. "Now how am I gonna get out of here…?"

The handcuffs rattled against his wrists as he used his finger– transformed into a small blade– to cut the thick rope binding his ankles to the chair legs. As he did so, he took a look around. 

There wasn't much in the room; he felt like that was on purpose. There was only his chair, the table in front of him, and a little booklet on top of the table. Looking behind him, the door was a solid black metal, like the rest of the walls around him.

_ Do they really think metal can keep me in here?  _ Henry smirked, standing up as his other foot was freed. His wings bowed over his shoulders, the bladed feathers scraping against his wings.  _ Okay, I can get out of here easy. Maybe come up with a plan first? How should I go about this…? _

He felt like he was back at the Museum. He could bust out in a blaze of glory through the door, or go the sneaky route and creep out through the panels in the ceiling. 

He weighed his options.

_ I know I  _ can  _ bust out guns blazing… but should I? If they don't know I'm gone, it'll give me more time to put distance between me and them. I might have to go off the map so Dr. V doesn't get hurt again… _

He reached up to his headphones, surprised to find they still emanated dead static when he pressed them to his ears. He pressed the talk button in some vain hope someone was listening. "Um… Charles?" He whispered hoarsely. "General? Doc? Anyone? Um…"

He used his wing to grab up to the ceiling, where a vent was ripe for the crawling-through, as he spoke to nothing. "Uh, if  _ anyone  _ can get back to me, that would be great. I'm, um… I'm in a rough spot right now, and I'd really appreciate some help."

He had to retract his wings as he squeezed into the vent, and the tip of his spine scraped against the top of the crawlspace. He barely fit, another detail about this place he was sure was intentional. He still spoke into his headset, just much quieter, practically mouthing the words.

"I'm under The Wall. If I stay here Ellie and Petrov will kill me. I don't know if I can capture Ellie here… she has a lot of allies I'm sure. They took my wing fuel, so I can't fly… I'm sure they did something else, I just…" He sighed, pushing onwards through the vent, hoping and praying nothing gave out under him. "Someone, please… just come help me."

Nothing answered him. Nothing but static. He felt tears stinging his eyes as he crawled, and he tried to keep his sniffle quiet. 

_ You can break down later. Right now, you need to get out. _

"Who ya' talking to?"

Henry nearly jumped out of his skin had it not been for the overwhelming demands of his body to keep quiet. Quickly, he jerked his head around to see who was behind him.  _ Who in the FUCK— _

_ —oh my god. _

They were a scrawny little thing, that much was obvious— perhaps even skinnier than  _ him _ . They were wearing a striped prison outfit, traditional black and white, and there was a black bruise cutting their upper lip, from what Henry could see in the sparse lighting.

The prisoner stared at Henry as he said nothing. "Are you trying to get out too?" They asked, trying to hushedly whisper. "Or, are you trying to rescue someone?" Their eyes widened, and they shrunk back. "Wait, are you a vent guard?"

Henry stammered for a couple minutes, trying to move along. "...You're a kid?"  _ I didn't even hear anyone behind me! _

The prisoner's face fell. "I'm seventeen."

"You're a kid!" Henry repeated, shock crossing his face. "Wh-what are you—" he clamped a hand over his mouth with a sigh. "Nevermind." He turned away and crawled onward, hoping the kid would leave him alone. He had more important things to pay attention to.

The kid tilted their head, following at a pretty close distance. "Were you trying to get help from someone outside the Underground? Cuz if so, good luck with that. They made this whole place a dead zone– nothing in, nothing out."

Henry squeezed his eyes shut, trying to tamp down a rising panic in his stomach.  _ Please shut up. If you're the reason they find me I'm going to kill you. _

"Well, you're going the right way, at least," the kid went on. "This is a good way out. To the right leads up to the surface, so, uh… better be prepared for the cold."

Henry groaned, stopping in his crawling. He looked back to the kid with a scowl. Wordlessly, he put his finger to his lips, hoping they got the hint.

"Oh, right…" the kid shrunk back. "Quiet. Shush. Got it. Sneaky." They put their hand over his mouth in an apologetic grimace.

Henry sighed, turning back and seeing the turn their unexpected company mentioned. The vent veered to the left and right, and at the kid's earlier advice, he decided to go right.

The end was in sight soon enough, and just as the kid said, the wintery chill turned the metal under his hands colder. He could see sunlight bouncing off the snow through the cracks in the vents, and he felt fresh air swarm into his lungs.

Freedom was close.

He tried making another crawl towards the vent, but a hand grasped onto his pant leg. "No, wait!"

Henry jerked his leg, causing a deep rumble throughout the vent. "Leave me alone, kid!" He hissed.

"No, just hang on!" The prisoner pleaded. "There's guards out there!"

"Yeah, and I'll deal with them." Henry reached back, batting the kid's hand away. "Trust me, I've broken out of prison before."

"But you haven't broken out of  _ here _ ." The kid held desperation to cloud their eyes. "Trust  _ me _ , this place doesn't fuck around!"

Henry half-sighed, half-growled. He then focused on his hand, feeling it shift into a blade shorter than his normal sword form. "I think I'll be okay," he muttered, holding his cybernetic up to show them.

The kid's eyes widened, but he still shrunk back. "Suit yourself, I guess. You'll be a good distraction for me to get out."

Henry scoffed with an eye roll, then focused on the vent, inching closer. He did see a pair of feet stationed to the side, but it only looked like one guard.

_ Okay, I can do this. I can— _

"This is bad idea, man."

Henry growled, more forcefully this time as he snapped his head back to the kid, who now had curled into a fetal position against the side of the vent. Some of his anger ebbed away, seeing just how small they were compared to himself. Still, he managed, "can you shut up for a second?"

The kid shrugged, wrapping their arms tighter around their knees. "I'm just trying to help… I mean… I've been through this before, you can't just run off. Even if you can deal with the guards, they'll find you."

"Then why are you following me?" Henry grumbled. "You're trying to get out again? Why try if its such a bad idea?"

"I wasn't expecting anyone else to be in the vent!" They sighed, their eyebrows furrowing in a troubled expression as they sunk their head between their knees. "Whatever. Sorry."

Henry rolled his eyes and turned back to the vent.  _ I can take out the guard easily. If more start swarming, I'll use my wings and knock 'em all out. _

_ Okay. Come on, Henry. You can do this. You can— _

"Oh, no…"

Henry stifled a scream, grabbing onto his sleeve with ferocity.  _ This is the SECOND time he's interrupted me hyping myself up. What the fuck kid.  _ "What now?" He hissed, only halfway turning his head.

The kid had now risen to their knees, watching part of the vent start to glow red. "I think they found us."

"What are you talk– oh." Henry turned, watching the vent start to melt open. "Uh-oh."

Before he could even start to think about what to do, an arm suddenly shot through the metal, deafening him with a crash and knocking him back with shock. 

His brain screamed for him to make a break for it, but a strong hand grabbed onto his ankle and yanked him out of the vent as though he weighed nothing. He tried gripping onto  _ something _ , but all he could do was claw at the the screws holding the vent together as he slipped out. "No, no, nonononono—!"

He landed hard on his back in the middle of a florescently bright hallway that reminded him of The Wall. With the breath knocked out of his lungs, he could barely scream as a shockwave of pain rippled throughout his entire body. He felt electricity buzzing under his ears, and he immediately felt that something had broken.

"God  _ damn _ , Stickmin!" Winter Eagle's voice wavered into his ears as he opened an eye to stare at her, as well as Dmitri who had come into view. "It hasn't even been a whole thirty minutes, and you're trying to get out?"

All he could do was gasp in response as Dmitri knelt down to pull him up by the collar of his jacket. "You may have been able to escape The Wall, but this is  _ very  _ different."

"Who were you talking to up there?" Eagle asked, looking back up to the hole she made in the vent. "You got a little buddy?"

"It was… m… my headphones," Henry tried.  He was surprised to feel anxiety growing for the kid still hiding in the vent. It was only a couple minutes company, all of it aggravating– he didn't even know the kid's name! 

"Yeah, okay," Eagle dismissed without even looking at him. She made another grand leap, halfway climbing into the vent herself. Her surprise, though muffled, was clear as day to hear. "Jackson? What the fuck!?"

"Again!?" Dmitri snapped in Henry's ear. His anger overwhelmed his shock, a frown hiding behind his goatee.

There was a vicious clambering that ensued, mixed with desperate cries, but Eagle had eventually won. Dmitri watched with a tight scowl as Eagle slid out, dragging a thrashing kid behind her. She held tight onto their hair when they tried scrambling away. 

"The third time this month," Dmitri snarled, charging towards both of them, only to grab Eagle by the collar while still holding Henry's with the other hand. "How many times will he break out before you add more security!?"

Eagle jerked her head back, scoffing behind her mask. "Excuse me? I  _ have  _ upped the security, thank-you- _ very- _ much." She let go of Jackson only for a moment to bat his hand away from her collar. "How about you yell at the shitty guards instead of me?"

Dmitri shoved her, hard, into the wall next to the vent. "Don't shift the blame!" He said, "Security is  _ your job _ . How difficult is it to contain  _ one  _ child!?"

"I'm seventeen!" Jackson insisted, writhing in Eagle's grasp. "I'm not a kid!"

"Shut up," Eagle growled, yanking hard to get him to stop squirming. She then turned her attention back to Dmitri. "Listen, it's not my fault Houdini over here figured out how to escape. I've done literally everything I can think of to keep this little shit in his cell." She scoffed, planting her free hand on her hip. "What about Henry? He's  _ your  _ responsibility, why the fuck did it take him two seconds to break out?"

Henry groaned, halfway out of pain. He shot Jackson a look, who gave him pleading eyes right back.  _ Am I really gonna try and break this kid out of here?  _ He asked himself.  _ I can just leave. I really can just leave. I mean, this kid's been nothing but trouble for me, so… _

_ Okay, now I sound like an asshole. He's a kid, he's supposed to be nothing but trouble! I was a little shit at seventeen, too. Granted, I wasn't in a high-security prison being guarded by bloodthirsty serial killers acting out some kind of revenge plot against everyone who did them wrong. What did this kid even do to get him sent here? _

"Give me the child," Dmitri snapped, lunging forward and snatching Jackson from her grasp. "I'll take them to the Basement, while you fix their cells so they can't get out again."

Henry could feel the annoyed scoff and eye-roll from behind Eagle's mask. "Yeah. Sure, whatever." She brushed past Dmitri, roughly slamming into Henry's shoulder as she walked past.

"Fucking useless," Dmitri snapped after her. "How is a child the root of your problems!?"

Eagle raised a middle finger at him as she stalked on, not even turning back.

Henry looked to Jackson, who was holding a hand to his mouth with tears pooling in his eyes. Blood was leaking between the creases of his fingers, which he was obviously trying to hide.

"You two are going to be in the Basement for a long time," Dmitri told the two as they were dragged down the hallway. "Although, Henry… I have to say I'm impressed by the gall you have to try and escape so early into your incarceration. You should have known we still had eyes on you."

Henry hung his head with a snuff. Part of him knew he was still under surveillance, and that breaking out was a fool's errand, but he just wanted to  _ try _ .

Sooner than he would have liked, he and Jackson were thrown into a small room. He zoned out through the process of being tied to the cold dirt walls with his jacket ripped off his body. The only thing grounding him to reality was the dull ache coursing through his robotic arm as tiny sparks jutted out from the shoulder.  _ I'm definitely gonna need Dr. V to look at that once I get out of here. _

"Enjoy your time here!" Dmitri called sarcastically as the door slammed shut, leaving him and Jackson alone with each other in the darkness.

Jackson was sniffling, trying to move his bound hands to his mouth to wipe away blood that kept gushing from his split lip. They had tied him into a sitting position on the floor, reminiscent of how he was curled up in the vent.

Henry hung his head with a sigh. He himself was in a standing position with his arms splayed out to the side.  _ Nail my hands to the wall and I'm Jesus fucking Christ. God, this sucks. _

There wasn't much he could do but listen to Jackson trying to suppress his sobs. His heart tugged for the kid, making him frown. The cold was starting to settle in, and he had a feeling Jackson would be feeling it more. He was used to cold climates, plus he had cybernetics venting a bit of warmth to keep him from totally freezing. He could wait it out if he wanted to.

It didn't look like Jackson was going to last much longer with Dmitri and Eagle's treatment. If he was sobbing over being tied up with a busted mouth, Henry didn't want to know how he'd act when they started getting worse. And he knew they were  _ going  _ to get worse.

_ Okay… Time for Plan B; Escape, this time with a kid. Because he will not survive another day with those monsters. We can get out, maybe my headphones will start working, I can ring up the General… okay, Doc if I'm lucky. We can hide out at the boat and think of a new plan. Maybe find this kid's parents while I'm at it. _

_ If I can save someone's life, I'm going to. Even if he is an aggravating little kid. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly i think I just looked at henry and said "what if you had a child to look after" because that's just what I do with fics like this lol. Jackson's a little shit and I love him


	10. Staying Distracted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaya and Baxter are on their way to find Henry. Meanwhile, Henry tries to keep himself occupied in The Basement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoof! Sorry for the long wait, but I've had some stuff happening. First I got his with an exhaustion spike, THEN I had to move to a whole new state, and THEN my eyes got really horrid scratches that make it hard to see!! Its been rough. But I managed to polish off chapter 10 :D I hope you enjoy!

Vaya let another groan escape as she pressed her back to the wall of the small aircraft. "Oh, no no no… don't like this."

"Don't like what?" Baxter asked.

"Don't like this, wanna go back down." Vaya closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "We are too high up."

"Feeling sick?" He fixed his hold on the aircraft's wheel. "Your bones feel bad?"

"Not that," Vaya insisted. "This is… just too high. Want to go back down."

Baxter chuckled then, looking back at her from the cockpit. "Oh, come on, Doc! It's totally fine; I promise."

Vaya shook her head, pushing her glasses up her nose. "We are going to fall."

Baxter laughed a little more at that. "Yeah, the aircraft I've been flying for  _ years  _ with only minor turbulence is suddenly gonna drop dead now that you're in it." He tilted his head in a  _ come here  _ motion. "Look, just come up here and take a peek out the window!"

"Already peeked," Vaya insisted. "No human should be flying at level of birds!"

"And no human should swimming on the sea where only whales and kraken dare," Baxter shot back. "Come on, I rode on your little tin box, you get to ride in my tin bird."

Vaya groaned, sinking into the floor. "Just tell me when we get there."

Baxter chuckled at her again, rolling his eyes as he continued on a course towards the Wall. He shot a look behind him, knowing she would need a distraction from the height. So, he struck up a conversation.

"So… what's Henry like?"

"Hm?" Vaya raised her head, arms curled around her stomach. 

"Well, I'd like ta' know who I'm rescuing. Plus, I'm curious; he's the talk of the town at work!"

Vaya forced out a huff that was supposed to be a laugh, trying to ignore the wave of nausea roiling in her stomach. "He's… quiet," she said after a moment. "Only really talks when he can't express through hands."

"I see," Baxter hummed.

"Optomistic. A little skittish, but I don't blame him." Vaya's heart slowed. "Takes every opportunity he can. Possibly result of living on scraps. Learns very quickly."

"So if he's at The Wall…" Baxter tilted his head as the plane banked to the right, "he should be fine. Keeping his spirits high and finding a way out."

"Hopefully." Vaya unfurled from her ball and clenched her hand into a fist multiple times. "But his augmentations… they will try to remove them. Or have injured them." Her eye twitched. "If they break the wrong thing, he can die. They do not know what they are doing."

Baxter grimaced. "Well… they want him alive, right? If something was going to kill him, they wouldn't do it."

Vaya shook her head. "Not so sure they want him alive."

Baxter swallowed. "Um… maybe they're using him as leverage?"

"Against  _ me _ ?" Vaya waved a hand in the air. "What did I ever do to them?"

Baxter sighed defeatedly, thunking his head against the wheel. "You're not making it easy to stay optomistic."

Vaya let out a hefty sigh, a grabbing at her hair. "Not trying to," she promised. "Just looking at all outcomes."

The pilot scratched his head, moving his cap along with his hand. "Well… maybe not every outcome."

Vaya raised her head, struggling to keep tears from falling down her face.

Baxter looked back to meet her stare. "Think of an outcome where he's totally fine. Sure, he's a little banged up and in a cell, but overall he's safe for now. Or, maybe an outcome where he's already found a way to worm his way out. He's good at that, right?"

"...Yes," Vaya answered hesitantly. "He is notorious for escaping places he should not escape…" She pushed her glasses up her nose. "But what if they are hurting him? What if he is in pain?"

"Vaya," Baxter tried.

"He could be suffering," Vaya murmured, dragging her knees to her chest yet again. "Who knows how much they're torturing him…"

* * *

"I spy with my little eye… something brown."

"Is it the wall?"

"Not this time."

Henry huffed, trying to smile. "Is it the floor?"

Jackson leaned his head to the side with a  _ tsk _ . "Darn, you're good at this game."

Henry felt himself laugh, but a dull ache strained his stomach as he did so. Regardless, he took a look around the room he had memorized by now. "I spy… with my little eye… something, uh…" his eyes fell on Jackson, who trying to tug his sleeve over his arm with his teeth. "...white."

Jackson dropped his sleeve with a raised eyebrow. "My clothes again?"

Henry waved his hand– his organic one, since the cybernetic was too painful to move at the moment. "Aw, ya' got me."

"That's like the fifth time you've spied my clothes," Jackson noted with a tiny smile, trying to shift his bound feet to let his baggy pants cover them. "Anyway, I spy with my little eye…" he paused, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "...something blue."

That was new. The words made Henry raise his head, first in confusion. "Blue?"

"Mm-hmm."

Henry started craning his neck around, but he didn't have to look for long before he saw what Jackson did. "You see the power core on my hand." Weakly, he twitched a few robotic fingers with a grimace.

Jackson squirmed in his binds, curious. "Is that really a robot hand? And… and on your back?"

"Robot arm, really," Henry corrected. "And, a cybernetic spine too."

Jackson breathed in awe. "Woah… can you shoot lasers and stuff out of your fingers?"

"Hmm…" Hemry tilted his head. "I mean, I can do high-power energy blasts. Only fired it once though. I'm still getting used to 'em."

"What about your spine? Do you, like, not have a normal one anymore?"

"Nope." Henry shook his head. "Had to get it replaced."

"Oh." Jackson's eyes fell, and he stared at his shoes. "H-How did you get them?"

Henry shot him a look, angry at first, but he immediately softened.  _ I'd be asking too if he had a robot arm…  _ "I fell," he simply muttered.

"Fell?"

"Yup. I was trying to climb onto an airship, but…" his heart quietly picked up pace as the memories came back. "I, uhm… my grip slipped on the doorway, and I just… fell. I hit the water, luckily, but the force of falling shattered my arm, and my spine got all kinds of fucked up. Dr. V had to replace em so I could survive."

"Dr. V?"

Henry's heart stabbed with pain when Jackson echoed her name. For a moment, he remembered the warm familiarity of the dock, catching fish while Vaya did some random upgrade to his spine. It was only a week, but… it was the calmest, nicest week of his life that he could remember. He found himself huffing out a laugh.  _ My standards for a good day are so low nowadays… _

"Is he your friend?" Jackson went on. "Is that who you were talking to in the vent? I had some friends, but none of them were doctors… then again, all my friends just graduated, so…"

"Yeah," Henry said, suddenly aware that he hadn't responded to him before. "Yeah, she… she's a cybernetics doctor." He caught the glimmer of confusion in Jackson's eye. "She knows how to fix people with robot parts."

"Oh." Jackson wouldn't look away. "Did it hurt? Like, getting your arm cut off?"

Henry shrugged as best he could. "I pretty much passed out the second I hit the water. Doc says that I died, which… which I can believe. She had to bring me back to life, then replace my arm and spine."

"Oh…" Jackson fiddled with his sleeve. "I mean… does it still hurt?"

A jab sparked out of Henry's shoulder. "Sometimes." 

"Why did you get dragged here?" Jackson blurted. "Was the Eagle chick after you?"

"I think," Henry replied, "and her name is Ellie. I was actually tasked with finding her and turning her in, but she got to me first."

"Are you a cop?"

"God no," Henry huffed, almost smirking. "You kidding me? I was just hired by the military real quick."

Jackson swiped crusted blood off his cheek with a breathless chuckle of his own. "Oh, good. I thought I had to be scared for a sec."

"Never in my life would I consider it." He hung his head for just a moment. "Anyway, enough about me. What got  _ you  _ here? You're a kid!"

Jackson growled, bloody face scowling. "For the last time. Seventeen."

"Fine. You're a  _ teenager _ ."

Jackson rolled his eyes, but seemed less miffed. "I stole Eagle's guns out of her truck for my buddies."

"Wh—!" Henry's incredulous stare could be read clearly, even in the dark light. "The hell did y'all need guns for?"  _ Didn't he say they all just graduated?  _

Jackson rubbed his collarbone. "Well,  _ they _ needed them. I was just their errand boy. I was supposed to just grab the guns and leave, but… I didn't know she was so close."

Henry couldn't help but ask, "what about your parents?" Jackson's face fell, which sent an anxious pang through his chest. "Uh… I take it they're not—"

"—They don't really care anymore, no," Jackson interrupted. "I didn't like the family business, so they tossed me out." He shrugged, swiping more blood off his face. "Whatever. It happened a couple years back, so it doesn't really bother me anymore."

Henry opened his mouth to ask again, but then shut his mouth.  _ His parents obviously bother him…  _ "So… what did your friends need guns for?"

Jackson raised an eyebrow. "To rob a casino. It was that big one by the ocean. They wanted to prove that they were serious about criminal life and all that. Trying to impress some people. Like, these top hat dudes."

Henry's throat closed up. "T… the Toppat Clan?" He choked.

"Yeah, them." Jackson seemed oblivious to Henry's panic as he went on. "I mean, I guess it would have been cool if I got there too. I heard they can give you a nice life if you got nowhere to go, and… well, I didn't really have anything else to do."

Henry shook his head fervently. "No. It's better you didn't join. They… they were all a bunch of selfish assholes, anyway."

"Hm?" Jackson quirked an eyebrow.

Henry's lip twitched in a snarl. "All they ever cared about was themselves and their own power. If you weren't in their Clan, you were dirt under their shoes." His vision grew hazy under rage as he looked to Jackson. "I bet they would have shot you dead if you tried joining."

Jackson's gaze fell to his feet. "Oh…"

"Besides, it doesn't matter anyway. They're all dead." He balled his hands into fists, letting a large wave of black pain course through his arm. "Made damn sure of that," he forced out through grit teeth, and his whole body trembled in agony. He was pretty sure Jackson didn't hear the last part, which he was pleased with; he didn't even mean for that one to slip out. 

If Jackson heard the slip, he didn't make it known. "I don't know if mom an' dad are dead yet. Wouldn't surprise me if they were, y'know?" He scratched his hand. "David's probably looking for me…"

"David?"

Jackson snapped his head up, as though he'd been shocked. "Hm? Oh, yeah. He's the guy that puts a roof over my head. Makes sure I eat at night. That sorta thing."

Henry could sense his despondence. "David's a good guy, right?" He slowly asked.

Jackson hesitated. "I– yeah. Yeah, he is. I mean, maybe not an upstanding citizen, but… he's cool."

Henry kept his side-glance locked on Jackson, searching his face for any indicators of his mood. He didn't reply, though; he could feel his eyelids dipping lower every second.  _ How come  _ I  _ got tied up in the standing position? I don't think I can tell myself just how much this sucks. I'd ask how much worse this can get, but I'm not gonna jinx myself like that. _

"Wh-what about you?" Jackson asked, tilting his head. "What about that doctor you mentioned? Is she a good guy?"

"Yeah," Henry breathed with a nod. "She's… definitely a good guy. She saved my life, so…"

Jackson stayed silent, sinking his head as far as he could over his knees. "Um… are you okay?"

"Yeah," Henry muttered on autopilot, though it couldn't be any further from the truth. His stomach roiled, causing a sick feeling in the bottom of his throat. "Just hungry…"  _ When was the last time I ate? I didn't have anything on the helicopter… the boat? Probably the boat. I remember fish. _

"Oh. Yeah, uh… might have to get used to being hungry." Jackson swallowed. "They don't really feed us all that much. At least... never fed me."

"Great," Henry sighed under his breath.  _ They probably don't feed anyone to keep them from sneaking out… no energy, no will to move… this is just fan-freaking-tastic, isn't it!? _

Before he could gripe to himself anymore, a crackling speaker cut the silence in the room.  _ "You're hungry?"  _ Dmitri's voice bled through the cell, and Henry saw Jackson flinch at the noise.  _ "You want food? Don't want to starve to death?" _

"That would be nice," Jackson called out hesitantly.

Henry looked to the door with a tired glare.  _ What's on the menu tonight? A single loaf of bread? Are we gonna have to catch our own rats? Not even gonna give us any seasonings, are you? _

_ "I suppose it would defeat the purpose keeping you two here if you died from starvation,"  _ Dmitri said, contemplative.  _ "So let me ask… do you want to eat today, or tomorrow?" _

Neither prisoner said a word, but they each shot each other a look that said  _ what do you think _ ? 

Henry was  _ starving _ , but if he had to choose he wouldn't mind eating tomorrow. He didn't know how hungry Jackson was, but it seemed like he was used to going a while without much food.

Jackson chewed the inside of his cheek and spoke up. "Uh… today. Please."

_ "Are you sure?"  _ Dmitri antagonized.  _ "You won't get anything tomorrow…" _

Henry raised his head weakly. "Are you gonna give us the damn food or not?"

Silence.

Then, his handcuffs rattled, and he dropped to the floor with a  _ thud _ . 

_ Ow! Ow, ow, ow, stupid fucking shoulder!  _ Henry seethed, reaching his organic hand to clutch at the dented metal around his other shoulder. The handcuffs rattled on a chain still connected to the wall; it didn't allow  _ much  _ room, but enough to crawl around a little. He couldn't test it much anyway, with how badly his shoulder was sparking. 

Jackson was seething with the sudden release as well, pressing both hands to his still-bleeding mouth. In a more comfortable fetal position. "Aow, fuck."

Henry shot his eyes to Jackson while still holding his shoulder. "You okay…?"

Jackson snuffed, wiping a fresh wave of blood and spit off his mouth with his sleeve. "I think I broke a tooth… or I think they busted my lip open again."

Henry sighed, trying to move closer as a harsh fluorescent light flashed on. "Here, lift your head up a bit. Lemme see."

Jackson did as he was told, still tonguing the open gash above his lips. "Ow…"

Henry grimaced, reaching his hand out, but the handcuffs wouldn't allow him to move any closer. "Well… won't lie, it doesn't look exactly good." Jackson opened his mouth a little wider. "Yeah… that tooth is definitely broke." He looked down at the ground as his gut squirmed.  _ How hard did Ellie hit him? _

"Good thing they only serve us mush. Don't worry, I think—" He jumped and shrunk back when the heavy door swung open.

Dmitri's boots thunked into view, and a brown sack was unceremoniously dropped in front of Henry. "You have until the light turns off to finish your meal," he explained. 

Henry gingerly took the bag, peeling open the top. Jackson's description of "mush" was really the only way he could describe what was in it. He looked up to Dmitri, who had stepped back to leave. "Not even a spoon?"

Dmitri turned slightly, not entirely looking back as he wound his hands behind his back. "Figure it out, Stickmin. You always do."

Henry looked to Jackson, whose hand was already dug into his own bag. He met Henry's eyes as he shoveled a handful of mush into his mouth. "What?" He muffled through a full mouth. "You gonna eat that, or what?"

The door slammed shut, a series of clicks locking it securely. Henry's nose wrinkled as an overly salty smell wafted from the bag. Nevertheless, he reached his hand in.

It was a consistency of mashed potatoes, with the taste of stale cardboard dunked in a metric  _ fuckton _ of salt. Henry gagged the second the taste hit his tongue, but he managed to keep it in his mouth.

"I know," Jackson mumbled, licking his finger, "this isn't my first option either. But it's all they give us." He reached his hand into his mouth, picking at something. 

Henry managed to force down another scoop with a groan. "This sucks."

"I mean, it's not all bad." Jackson grunted, pulling something out of his mouth that earned another gush of blood. "I mean, I got my tooth out!" He held the bloody bone fragment in the palm of his hand, almost proudly. 

Henry chuckled, an autopilot reaction to his unease. "Uh… I don't think the tooth fairy is gonna give you anything for that."

Jackson stuck his tongue out. "Bluh, whatever. I can steal from her if I need to."

Henry rolled his eyes with a huff as he ate another scoop of mush. "So… how many times have you tried getting out? Ellie made it seem like this is a common occurence."

Jackson swallowed. "I think this time makes seven."

"And you've been here for… how long?"

Jackson looked down at his hands, wiping spit off his fingers. "Uhm… I  _ think  _ half a year now? Or was that last month… I mean, yeah it's kinda common that I get out but… they've never sent me to the Basement before."

Henry's stomach dipped as he forced down another mouthful of mush. "Okay… yeah, you need to get the hell out of here."

"Well, duh." Jackson rolled his eyes. "That's why I've been trying the vents."

Henry flexed his robotic arm, gritting his teeth through the scraping pain left from the dented metal. "I wish I could blast my way out of here, but…"

Jackson tilted he head. "Did they break your arm?"

Henry nodded. "Seems like it."

Jackson reached forward, but his handcuff restricted him trom touching Henry. "Does… does it hurt?"

Henry's head twitched to the side as his shoulder sparked. "I'm fine."

Jackson didn't look convinced. "Are you sure?"

Henry raised an eye at him. "What about  _ you _ ? You just had to yank a tooth out!"

"Pssh." Jackson waved his hand and then scooped that hand back into the paper bag in front of him. "I've had worse than a broken tooth. Plus, I have, like, thirty left.  _ I'll _ be fine. Your arm looks way worse."

Henry rolled his eyes. " _ I've  _ had worse than a broken arm. Plus, this can easily get fixed once Dr. V comes for me."

Jackson stiffened then. He looked down at the bag in front of him, suddenly feeling sick. 

The man didn't notice, too busy staring at the power core on his hand. "I already can't wait to get out of here. I-I never do well being cooped up places… especially this dark."

"Yeah," Jackson muttered absentmindedly. "It does kinda suck here, huh."

A sudden jerk on his handcuffs tore Henry's power core away from his vision. He could barely gasp before another jerk started pulling him upwards. "Hey! What the—!"  _ It hasn't even been that long! _

The fluorescent light  _ clack _ ed off. Jackson let out a surprised squeak as his restraints pulled him back to his own wall. He tried thrashing a leg out, but all that did was spill the rest of his mush onto the floor.

Henry tried to jerk free, but his injured arm let out a hiss and a shower of sparks. He grit his teeth and cried out, looking to the door. "H-Hey! What the hell? Aow!" His shoulder let out more sparks and a tiny squeal that resonated behind his ear.

Jackson coughed, spitting out a gob of blood. His eyes welled with tears that he quickly buried into the black stripes of his shirt. "Lunchtime's over."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have everything on dark mode so I can see better (light sensitivity amirite) so I was EXPEFTING the post edit square to be dark too but it was BRIGHT ASS WHITE AND IM FUCK8N D E. AD. if there's any typos im sorry but I'm like ¾ blind at the moment and can't see them


	11. Attempt #1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaya and Baxter attempt to talk their way into The Wall as a means of meeting with Dmitri Petrov. Hopefully, he'll have the answers to their questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOOBOY OK I ACTUALLY LOVE HOW THIS 'UN CAME OUT AND I HOPE YOU DO TOO :D 
> 
> Also for an update to those curious about my last chapter's notes; my eyes are better! I can keep on with the writing train! Which I'm SUPER happy about because I love this story!

"Stop fidgeting," Vaya hissed into Baxter's ear. "You are making us look suspicious."

"I can't help it!" Baxter whispered back, looking up at the looming complex in front of them as he picked at a loose brown string on his jacket. "It's freezing. And I'm nervous. And I don't like this place. And—"

"—Nobody likes this place," Vaya interrupted. "Stop complaining and look professional." 

Baxter turned behind him. "Say, do you hear something?"

"I hear wind." Beside them, winter breeze swayed the branches making up the forest.

"No, I mean…" he looked to the ground behind them, pointing at the scuffed snow tracks. "Those footprints!"

"They're  _ your  _ footprints. Stop stalling." Vaya tightened her scarf around her neck, then brushed snowflakes out of her ponytail. "You remember cover story? We are looking for Petrov. Asking about repairs on behalf of Chaos Center."

"And discuss payments regarding our intervention," Baxter added. "It wasn't cheap blinking all those Toppats out of The Wall."

"Exactly." Vaya kept a steely stare forward, fixing a blue CCC hat on her head. It was a little big on her, considering it was one of Baxter's spares, but she hoped she could pass well enough.

Baxter once again twisted to look behind them. "I swear, I keep hearing someone else's footsteps."

"It is just echo." Vaya took him by the sleeve, not even sparing a glance behind her.

"But I thought snow muffled sound—" he was suddenly choked by a hand grabbing at his collar. "Ack-! Hey, come on, I'm serious!" 

"No, you are just stalling." Vaya rolled her eyes, but had to fight a smirk off her face. "Idiot," she mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" Baxter finally matched pace with Vaya.

"Idiot," she shot back, louder this time, and her smirk finally turned up a corner of her mouth.

"Ouch." Baxter pressed a gloved hand over his chest. "I'm wounded." He then elbowed her in the shoulder gently. "Dumbass."

"You say to woman with three Doctorates."

"You may be smart, but that doesn't mean you can't be a dumbass."

Their pace came to a stop when a burly man with a goatee blocked them from descending the mountain to get closer to the Wall. There was no physical barrier other than him, but with the intense glare he gave it was no wonder why they didn't need any more.

"No trespassing," the man barked in a thick accent. He wore a fuzzy black coat with the emblem for the complex stamped onto the chest pocket, his scowl deepening on his face, which was scarred on the left side.

Vaya lifted her chin. "We are looking for Dmitri Petrov."

The man didn't budge, though his eyes flickered to their hats. "You are from Center for Chaos Containment?"

"Sir," Baxter started, stepping forward. "Baxter Coffman, at your service." He stuck his hand out, a smile straining the corners of his mouth.

The man raised an eyebrow, crossed arms tightening over his chest.

Baxter stared back at him with a grimace. "Uh… firm handshake."

Vaya groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I apologize for my friend. If we could speak with Dmitri—"

"He is busy."

Baxter straightened his posture. "Sir, we were hoping to discuss how Mr. Petrov would be paying for our services regarding the Toppat break-in."

The man let out a dry laugh.. "Ha! Yes, of  _ course  _ we pay for service we didn't even ask for."

Baxter shrugged. "Sorry sir, but our work isn't cheap. I understand if we have to work out several payments, and I'm sure my– _our_ Boss will let you pay off your construction bills before we—"

The Wall guard finally uncrossed his arms, just to hold his hand up to stop Baxter mid-sentence. "We will not be paying."

Baxter swallowed hard. "Uh… w-well we, um… that's not…"

Vaya cleared her throat. "Like it or not, the Wall has bill. It will need paying. We will need to speak with Dmitri for details."

A walkie-talkie crackled to life at the guard's hip.  _ "Shift change for guards outside. North side, do you copy?"  _

_ "Copy that, coming in now,"  _ Another voice chittered, and the guard shuffled his feet. He looked back to the Complex, almost seeming urgent.

_ "South side, do you copy?" _

"Wait here for next guard," he said then, sighing a cloud of breath into the gray sky above. "They will be less cold. More willing to talk."

He picked up his walkie-talkie. "I copy." His boots crunched in the snow as he walked on. "Send next guard out quick. We have guests."

The second the guard was out of earshot, Baxter dug in his pocket– one of the impossibly deep ones on the side of his pants. "Okay. How are we gonna bust in?"

Vaya whipped her head to him. "What?"

"Well, we gotta find Dmitri. They're not gonna let us just waltz in, so I think we need to—"

Vaya grabbed his shoulder. "Did you forget the part where I told you this was supposed to be secret? What do you think they will do if they find us sneaking in? My cover will be blown!"

Baxter produced a strange device with large green buttons from his pocket. "Which is why  _ this  _ can get us anywhere we need to without anyone seeing!"

" _ Oh no _ ." Vaya grabbed for the device, but Baxter raised it to his other side, out of her reach. "No! I am  _ not  _ using any of these… these things!"

"Well, what are our other options?" Baxter snapped, eyebrows scrunched together. "Freeze our giblets off out here trying to convince these stingy bastards to fork over a couple hundred thousand?"

"Is safer than brute force!" Vaya made another swipe for the device, but Baxter swung it behind his back. "Baxter!"

"Okay, fine!" Baxter shouted back, stuffing the Teleporter into his back pocket. "It'll be the second option."

Vaya huffed, turning to face the hill of which the new guard was climbing. "Lets just try to talk our way through this," she hissed, stuffing her hands back into her pockets.

"Okay," Baxter agreed, much calmer now. "Sorry. Didn't mean to yell."

Vaya shrugged. "Whatever."

The guard reached them and gave a chattering sigh through their smile-and-nod. "Hello…" They said expectantly, tucking their hands into their pockets. "What can I do for you two?" Vaya squinted as the sunlight hit the golden emblem of a bird on their cap.

Baxter scuffed snow under his foot. "Ah, hey there. We're here on behalf for the Center for Chaos Containment. We were hoping to have a chat with Dmitri Petrov on how he's going to pay for our services in regards to the Toppat break-in." He leaned his head to the side, watching as a massive industrial crane move a just-as-massive piece if steel beaming through the air. "I… see you're still busy with reapirs."

The guard groaned, shaking snow off their boot. "Work's been doubled ever since the Toppats did that. Look, I signed on to keep convicts in cells, not put up walls and ride forklifts!"

"Sorry to hear that." Baxter hummed sympathetically. "Well, is there a way you can get us to see Mr. Petrov? We'd really like to iron out these details as soon as possible."

The guard hiked their shoulders up. "Uh… I dunno. The Warden doesn't really come up to the surface very often." They swallowed, casting their glance to the ground.

"Can you tell him it's urgent?" Baxter asked, but he didn't sound particularly in a rush. "We'd really like to get this settled. And… we'd also like to get out of the cold as soon as we can."

Vaya raised her hand to chew at her thumbnail, listening to the two chatter on. Didn't Baxter remember why they were _really_ here? Henry could be _anywhere_ in the world, and their only lead was a man who might not even be there. They weren't here to sit in the _freezing fucking cold_ and have a nice chit-chat with a guard whose golden metal emblem was burning her corneas with the _only streak_ of sunlight in the sky.

_ Henry could be hurt. They could be torturing him, or killing him. Is he even alive anymore? What if they've already killed him? _

"Doctor?"

Vaya jumped, her tooth jamming into her thumb pad. "Huh? Ow…" She looked to Baxter for a quick moment, then down to her thumb, which pooled with a dot of blood.

"I can radio for him, but I'm not making any promises he can show up," the guard said, their tone indicating that this wasn't the first time they had said it. They reached for the walkie-talkie on their hip, quickly swiping it to their face. "This is Summers, reporting from South side."

Baxter moved closer to Vaya as Summers stepped back to mumble into the walkie. "Hey, you okay? You spaced out there…"

"Fine," Vaya snapped a little too harshly. "Just a little cold." She swiped her bloody thumb over the cuff on her other sleeve. She then tried fixing the oversized hat over her head to no avail.

"Hey,  _ you  _ said this was the safer option." Baxter raised his eyebrows at her. "I'm being as safe as I can, just like you said."

"I know," Vaya grumbled, crossing her arms. "I am just…" she sighed as a means of finishing her sentence.

Baxter hesitated, but then held his arm out. "My jacket's fitted with heating pads. We can switch if you're really that cold."

Vaya glanced at him over her glasses. "Weren't  _ you _ complaining about cold?"

Baxter shrugged. "I can handle it."

Vaya had known Baxter for years. He was definitely a resilient man, but extreme weather was one of the things he couldn't tolerate. Even with a jacket rigged with CCC tech, he could hardly handle standing outside in maybe two inches of snow.  _ Why did he move north if he couldn't handle cold? _

Vaya just rolled her eyes and just tucked herself into his side. "Keep your jacket."

Baxter jumped a little when the taller woman stepped closer to her. He felt a little glad that his cheeks were already pink from the cold. Slowly, and rigidly, he settled his arm around her side, hooking a finger into one of her belt loops. "Alright, if you insist."

"...persistent," Summers was saying when they turned back to the two. "There's no chance they can come inside?"

"No visitors!" A gruff voice shouted from the other end of the walkie-talkie. "Do you realize just how much of a security threat that is!?"

Summers flinched, holding the walkie away from their face.

_ "No one comes underground," _ the voice went on, " _ not even  _ you _! What part of Authorized Personnel Only is so hard to understand?" _

"Sorry," Summers simply mumbled. "I'll tell 'em to leave, alright?" 

_ "You better. Or you'll come down here, and you won't like it!" _

Vaya's heart dropped when Summers took the walkie-talkie away from their mouth. "What?"

"Sorry," Summers said, strapping the device back to their hip. "That was the boss. He's busy, and can't see anybody right now."

Baxter hung his head. "I… understand."

"I'm sure he can get back to you if you send him a letter. Better yet, an e-mail."

Vaya's jaw dropped. "What? But we—!"

"Again, sorry." Summers shrugged, looking down at the ground like a kid who had gotten in trouble. "You can't come any further."

Baxter shifted back, pulling Vaya with him. "Okay, we get it. Thanks for your help, anyway."

Baxter was the only thing keeping Vaya moving. Her legs didn't seem to want to work, and neither did her brain since it didn't register the tears pricking her eyes until her vision wavered.

"Doc?" Baxter hummed once they were far enough away, still keeping a guiding hand on her waist. "You okay there?"

Vaya stared straight ahead, staring at nothing. "I-I thought… we were supposed…"

"Woah, hey!" Baxter stopped them in their tracks, tilting his head to the side. "Are you crying?"

Vaya raised an arm, swallowing hard. "I… sorry, I am…" Her shoulders hiked up, nearly brushing off her friend's arm. "I am just… worried?" She swiped at her tears, her cheeks being hit with a fresh brush of cold. "I thought we would...be able to get in that way."

"Well, it's fine." Baxter started walking again, taking Vaya's hand as he did so. "I can always get to Plan B, or we can sit in the dropship and cook up a new plan. What do you wanna do?"

Vaya shuddered as a gust of wind passed through. "I don't know..."

Baxter moved to the dropship regardless. "Let's get out of the cold, okay?" 

"Okay," she numbly agreed. She followed Baxter's lead, raising a hand up to swipe at her face again.  _ Get it together, Vaya! You can't save Henry if you're crying like a baby. _

"Anyway, uh… I'm sorry for yelling earlier," Baxter said. "I was just getting mad, y'know? The stupid Wall gets on my nerves, and that first guard  _ really  _ didn't help."

"It's fine," Vaya mumbled. "We were both mad. And I am worried about Henry."

"I know you are." Baxter pat her on the back. "And don't worry, we're gonna get him back. All we gotta do is—"

Vaya looked up from her feet when Baxter stopped. She looked to him, raising an eyebrow at his far-off stare. "Baxter?"

The man stared ahead at the dropship, eyebrows slowly creasing. "...something's wrong."

"Wrong? Wrong how?" Vaya turned to the ship as well, its sleek blue surface starting to get a layer of frost. "Is dropship broken?"

Baxter replied by stepping away from Vaya, digging into his cargo pockets. "C'mon, where are the bloody things?"

"Bloody… what?" Vaya tilted her head. "What is wrong?"

Baxter snuffed, keeping a glare directed at the dropship. "Someone got in." He dug into the side pocket on his left. "Where's the damn keys!? Do you have them?"

Vaya reached up to pat her pockets. "Um… no, no I don't." Her fingers curled around her breast pocket. "Just my pen… and a quarter."

Baxter jerked his hand out of his back pocket. "'Fer fuck's sake!" He dug into his side pocket again.

"I am sure they aren't in your pockets at this point," Vaya noted, wringing her hands together.

"Fuck it," Baxter muttered, flicking his hand back out to hold a much more familiar object to Vaya. "You got a gun on you?"

"I am a  _ doctor _ ." Vaya stepped back, eyeing his knife. "Do no harm." 

"You're also in the military." Baxter wiggled the knife between his fingers as the blade extended. "Do  _ so much  _ harm." 

Vaya followed uneasily behind Baxter as he stalked towards the ship. The man took to a sneaking position, knife at the ready. She preferred to keep her fists up, but mostly to keep her scarf over her mouth.

Baxter crane his head upwards to peer through the side window. "There's that son of a bitch. I  _ knew  _ someone followed us!" He pressed his hand against the door, a green ripple following his touch. Then, once the locks clicked open, he yanked hard on the handle to throw it open. "Alright, HANDS UP!"

Vaya stormed in after him, with a raised fist ready to strike. "This is private property!" She stared down the figure hunched over on the floor.

The figure merely raised their head, a burrito in hand half-eaten. They wore an ashy red jacket with fuzz poking out of the hood and sleeves, along with black sweatpants. Their hair covered their eyes, hanging in a mass of loose curls in front of their face. "Oh, hey."

Almost immediately, Baxter's shoulders drooped. "Is that my breakfast burrito?" He asked, voice high with disbelief. "Are you seriously eating the breakfast burrito I had saved for tomorrow?"

"Uh…" they stared at the food in hand. "It's got beans… egg… cheese… yeah, I think so."

"I think more important question," Vaya snapped, "is who are  _ you _ ?"

The figure stood, lithe and tall as they took another bite from the burrito. "I was cold, saw this was some kind of shelter from the snowflakes, and figured you wouldn't mind." They reached a hand up to brush shaggy curls out of their eyes, ducking a little so their head didn't hit the top of the ship. "You chaos boys like helping the people, right?"

Vaya narrowed her eyes. "Sounds like you are lying."

"I mean, what do you want from me?"

"My keys." Baxter held his hand out. "And my burrito!"

"Oh, right." They dug in their pocket and tossed the keys to the man. "But, uh. I'm keeping the burrito. Sort of eating it." To demonstrate their point, they took another bite, peeling away some of the wrapper as they did so.

"Who are you?" Vaya demanded, pushing in front of Baxter. "Why are you trespassing?"

"Told you, I'm getting out of the cold."

Baxter pocketed his keys with a raised eyebrow. "'Kay, but why were you out here in the cold in the first place?"

The person finally slumped their shoulders, raising a lazy hand in surrender. "Okay, okay, you got me; I was tryna' get into the Wall. I got a friend to bust out."

".. _. _ Hm." Baxter held fast onto his knife, but otherwise seemed relaxed. After a moment of hesitation, he turned to Vaya. "What do you think, Doc?"

Vaya eyed the person down, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Well… very funny they have same plan as us. Either coincidence or lie to gain trust." She took a step forward. "What is friend's name?"

The person scoffed, taking another big bite of the burrito. "Why do you need to know,  _ Doc _ ?"

"We can help each other," Vaya explained calmly. "We have common goal."

"Yeah," Baxter added. "We're not exactly obeying the law either, so it's not like we can turn you in. We can tell you what we know, and you can tell us what you know. Three heads work better than one, right?" He chuckled. "Especially when one of those heads is a cybernetic surgeon."

"Cybernetics?" The person's eyes widened. "Like… fixing people with robot parts?" At Vaya's curt nod, they cocked their head to the side. "Huh! Ain't that something…"

"So, are you gonna help us out or what?" Baxter asked, fiddling his knife between his fingers. "Listen, you're in  _ my  _ ship and eating  _ my  _ food. You don't have a lot of time to think this over."

"Alright, alright." They held a hand up. "I guess you guys can help. I mean- we can help each other. You help me get my friend back, and in return I'll help you get yours."

"Okay…" Vaya didn't budge from her stiff position. "Can you tell us name? This is third time I have asked."

A hand jutted out in front of Vaya for a handshake as they beamed a gap-toothed smile. "I'm Harper."

Vaya eyed their hand, seeming to contemplate the answer. Then, she gently shook it. "Dr. Vinschpinsilstien."

Harper's eyebrows shot up. "Woah, kind of a mouthful. Can I call you Dr. V for short?"

"Most people do," Vaya replied, finally offering the smallest of smile.

"And I'm Baxter." Baxter gave a short wave. "Okay, now that the introductions are out of the way, can we start on a plan?"

"Depends." Harper looked at the nearly-gone burrito in their hand. "Are you gonna let me finish this?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so a couple a end notes!!
> 
> 1) the Wall Guard Summers was a tiny nod to frequent commenter Summerspeck! I started writing this at the time you had the golden bird as your pfp (Papers Please reference i think?? Idk) and honestly your comments made me smile EVERY time I opened up my inbox:D I had space to fill for a small character so I decided to toss in a little cameo! Thanks so much for leaving your comments they're so fantastic
> 
> 2) to all the other commenters, frequent or not, this doesn't mean that I don't appreciate you any less!! I cherish every single comment I receive and my inbox is like 10 pages long at this point bc I love keeping them to look at :)
> 
> 3) I hope yall also enjoy Harper! I'm gonna have a LOT of fun with their dynamic regarding Vaya and Baxter to sort of mirror the borderline aggravating relationship Henry has with Jackson. Place your bets as to who this Friend is that they're trying to bust out!


End file.
